Where the River Flows
by Songstress Summers
Summary: One day, I wake and find myself in the world of Tales of Zestiria. I don't know how I got there, but I just want to go home. Too bad for me, that's never easy in these kinds of stories. At least I can make things right... hopefully. [Self Insert ; Semi-AU]
1. Waking to Glenwood

**Author's Note:** I'm here to put a screw in everyone's plans! ...Not really, I'm just bored. After a lot of thought and encouragement, I thought to make a SI story. It's probably stupid and people are gonna hate it, but I'm mainly writing this for fun.

I might end up putting in a lot of references to Berseria, mainly of the characters themselves and/or their weapons.

I hereby declare I own nothing except two characters in this fic.

* * *

There's always two sides to a story. A story that no one really seems to care about. Video games were passed off as merely fiction. The heroes of the story were all we learned about. We never learned about the villains unless we looked it up online, to see fan-made backstories and incorrect truths never released to the public at large.

The sky is a clear blue, and there's nothing around me except nature. Trees, grass... No signs of people anywhere. But it's choking, the pressure suffocating me. The sky darkens, and clouds appear as if summoned out of nowhere.

It's here that I meet him, the Lord of Calamity. My glasses stand up to the pressure, but I can barely move. I should be corrupted by now, turning into a hellion because of the malevolence. That was how the game worked, so... by all means, I should be a hellion.

But I'm not. I struggle to look at him, the lion-man named Heldalf. The hellion who caused the world's malevolence. He sneers down at me, and I can only cower. I'm weak, compared to him. Weak, frail and human. He picks me up by my hair, causing me pain, to get me level to his face.

The pressure I feel is immense and I choke as I try to speak, to tell him to let me go. He doesn't take notice. But he sees something that makes him drop me to the ground. I'm only able to cover my face as I land, preventing my glasses from breaking but not preventing the pain I feel.

Heldalf vanishes, and the malevolence goes with him. The world returns to normal and, like a normal human, I empty the contents of my stomach onto the ground. I hear a few voices, and footsteps crushing against grass, but my hearing hasn't unclogged yet. My eyes still work, so I look up. Green eyes are the first thing I see, followed by brown hair. Instead of saying anything, I dry-heave to attempt to expel anything else in my stomach. There's something given to me, and I try to push it away. But whoever's giving it to me then stabs my side and, as I go to shout in pain, shoves a gummy-like substance into my mouth. I instinctively swallow, choking it down.

My hearing clears, and sound's restored.

"It's odd for her not to have turned into a hellion. There was so much malevolence..." A female voice says

"Well, whatever it was, it's gone now. She can at least see me," the brunet I was looking st said, glancing back at me. He takes my hand, and writes in it.

It's not an alphabet I understand. I stare blankly at him before slowly pulling my hand away. "That tickles," I say, rubbing my hand. "Was that really...?"

I stop myself, understanding that here, in this world, I shouldn't comment on what the seraphim say. So I change tactics. "Was that really necessary? Once that gummy was shoved in my mouth, I could hear again." But my mind is on Heldalf, and why he'd shown himself to me. The brunet nodded, grinning.

"Yup! Gels always seem to do the trick!" He says. But then he frowns. "That was the strangest reaction to malevolence. Lailah, have you seen something like that before?"

I follow his gaze, standing up to my full height of a short five-foot-three. I can see the seraphim, but adjust my glasses slightly and look back to Sorey. I have to pretend I didn't see a thing, that I was from this place and not a world that presented their world as a story.

"What are you looking at?" I ask, knowing the answer. But I glance back at Lailah. She's radiant, like fire itself, and really gorgeous. The game didn't do her or _any_ of these people justice. Sorey gets up, rubbing the back of his neck and chuckling nervously.

A movement makes me jump, and a redhead walks to stand by Sorey. Rose. That's when I looked behind me, to see if her "guardian angel" was there.

Nope. "He likes pretending that there are other people around instead of just us," Rose says, making me look back at her. I nod, slowly. My friend did that a lot, so I understood all too well. But, when the seraphim were real and I was pretending not to have seen them, it wasn't like that at all. But if they met another with resonance, what would happen? I had to keep a low cover. Get dropped off in the next town, find a weapon and start training like crazy to join them when they returned.

I look around me, noting Mikleo, Edna and Dezel. All much more beautiful than the game showed. Perhaps that was because they were like ethereal beings. I linger a bit too long on Dezel, and he notices.

 _Mel, you idiot! He reads the wind, he can tell you're staring at him!_ I chide myself mentally, trying to see what was past him. A tree. Trees litter this place, as if overtaking it, and it's a relief. I also spot the ruins where the Sparrowfeathers used to be, or still were at the moment. According to this, I was at the point where Rose has just become Sorey's Squire. But still, I'm staring right at Dezel and he's actually getting uncomfortable.

"Hey! Stop staring!" He snaps. I pretend not to notice. "She can see us. She's staring right at me."

"She might be looking behind you, Dezel..." Sorey remarks.

"Huh? Dezel?" I act dumb, looking back at Sorey. Then I look at Rose. "Your friend seems to have an active imagination."

"She's lying," Dezel pointed out. He's perceptive but, then again, he reads the damn wind. Edna walks up and jabs me in the side. It hurts, and I yelp before facing her.

"Don't do that!" Well, there went my cover. Edna smirks, proud of herself. The reaction is instantaneous. Everyone's looking at me, and I shrink back, glancing to the ground.

"Why lie about something like that? I don't get it," Rose says. I shake my head.

"I didn't want to... be a freak..." I mutter. Dezel scoffs. "It's unusual for people to see the seraphim so... I thought if I pretended not to, I wouldn't raise suspicion."

"Well, that makes sense," Mikleo says. He folds his arms against his chest. "Although Sorey forgot and insisted on talking to Lailah."

Sorey laughs nervously. I can't help but start to laugh. Hearing Mikleo chide Sorey in person was about a hundred times better than hearing it from a TV screen. Lailah clasps her hands together. I see it in her eyes, the want to make me a Squire. But I don't comment. It's knowledge that I shouldn't have. To explain how would be to give out information that I wasn't from here. But my clothes would definitely give it away. Shorts and a tank top with velcro shoes and ankle socks. It's possible my glasses would, too, but I didn't know.

"Sorey, why not make her a Squire too?" Lailah asks. This is my chance.

"I'm dead weight and you really don't want me to drag you down! I'm a civilian, I don't know how to fight!" I protest.

"And we don't need dead weight," Dezel says. "She's right. All she'll do is drag us down and get us hurt protecting her."

Harsh. But it's the truth.

"Let's just leave her here. She can find her own way back," Edna says. "Humans cause problems, and we can't trust her."

"We'll take her as far as Lastonbell, then. That's the closest place to here," Rose comments, ignoring Edna.

"But, if she makes the Squire pact, she can armatize with one of us until we reach Lastonbell," Lailah points out. "I can dissolve the pact with her once we're there."

"That's only if she can armatize. We were lucky with Rose, but what if it releases? She'll pass out," Mikleo argues. "We can't risk it!"

I sigh, rubbing my forehead. "I'm Melanie, or Mel for short," I say. "Can't I have a say in this? If this... armatization will help me fight, then I don't see why not... As long as it's temporary!"

But I hate the armatization look. It's too frilly for my tastes. I pray that I don't get the same look as Rose. But, with my luck, I'm going to end up in it. Sorey opens the Celestial Record, looking for something. Lailah takes our hands, and recites the familiar Squire's pact.

I receive a true name, and the flames dissolve.

This is too fast, but I don't complain. I'll need it when I rejoin them the moment they return to Lastonbell. I didn't know how long they'd take, either. Lailah looks expectantly at me, and enters my body. A raging flame overtakes me, and I armatize with her. The sword is light despite the size, and I thank the heavens silently.

But it's awkward with Lailah within me. I silently freak out, and hope that I don't accidentally un-armatize. I don't look at my armatization, the frilly armbands being enough to tell me I have the same outfit as Rose when she armatizes. We head off through the forest, heading for Lastonbell.

We find a hellion and I suck at fighting it, relying on the spells the armatization lends me. But after the battle, the world vanishes from view as the armatization disappears. I pass out immediately.

* * *

We haven't moved from the spot I passed out in. The trees are still here, and they're talking about a stump. I sit up slowly, realizing they were enacting the skit about the big tree stump we were near. I tune them out, having heard it enough to say it word-by-word. Edna's the first to notice I'm awake, rolling her eyes and jabbing Sorey in the side with her umbrella.

"She's awake," Edna says.

"We can see that," Mikleo retorts.

I stand, a bit wobbly but soon become steady. "Sorry! I... I didn't mean to..." I trail off, suddenly becoming disgusted with myself. But I push it away, not wanting to breed malevolence. "To hold you up."

"Well, it was your first time in armatization. So it's okay!" Sorey says. I nod.

We start heading for Lastonbell again, and I'm glad for the temporary pact. I don't armatize this time, and merely dodge around hellions as I do my best to stay out of the line of fire. When the forest's behind us, I realize that time with them is short.

It'll probably be months before I see them again.

We stop to rest, the seraphim appearing from their vessel in a flash of light. The discomfort on Sorey's face vanishes, and he starts chatting up Mikleo. I guess it's uncomfortable, having your childhood friend reside in your body. I remember the armatization and shudder as I linger where I stand, a few feet away from their rest site.

I'm not a part of their group, nor will I ever be. I'm a stranger that Sorey's taking pity on, despite my lies earlier. Everyone's sitting and chatting, so I decide to walk ahead a bit to see which way we were going. Sorey was going to be fighting Sergei soon, and I was going to remain behind as they left on their way to Pendrago.

I remember Symonne, and I lower my head. I know what's coming, and I can't change a thing. Sorey's going to lose Dezel and gain Zaveid later. Edna's brother, who rested on the Spiritcrest, would be killed because Zaveid used up his bullets fighting hellions and "killing" them.

Edna wants her brother back, Zaveid wants his friend back. There's little someone like me can do but, if I try, I could change the history of the game.

I don't notice when Edna approaches, but she doesn't let me ignore her. "Brooding all alone? That's dull. At least try to act like you're grateful."

I shake my head. "I am grateful. I just have a lot on my mind, Edna."

Edna looks at me funny. "That's weird. I never introduced myself to you."

 _Shit, shit! Abort!_ "A-ah, welll... I heard them say your name..."

"...Funny, they haven't said it since we met. Just who are you?"

I hear Sorey call for us. Edna sighs. "I'll keep an eye on you. For all we know, you could be working for the Lord of Calamity. If you are, I'll bury you myself." Her threat isn't empty, and I shiver as she vanishes.

"Ready to go?" Sorey asks. I nod.

We reach Lastonbell, and Lailah is true to her word. The pact is dissolved as we step into line, and I'm left without any means to defend myself. I'm not too certain, but I faintly remember this check being because of war.

"Are you kidding me? I don't have time for this!" The man ahead of us grumbles.

"An inspection?" Sorey asks. The man turns to face us.

"It's the army! What do you think? There's going to be a real war going on, real soon!" He looks Sorey over, grinning. "Odds are they'll be detaining you, I bet."

"Huh?! Why me?!" I glance at him. The knights tell us to pipe down, and Rose gives an exaggerated apology.

"You've heard the rumours of the Shepherd, right?"

"You mean how the church branded the Shepherd a heretic?" I cut in, speeding up the conversation. "We've heard it."

The man looks at me, nodding. The knight calls for the next person, and he turns away. "Looks like I'm up. On that note, watch your backs out there."

The man leaves, and we're left to ourselves.

"There's also mysterious happenings in town... or talk. I don't know which," I offer, looking to them

"Huh. Might be worth investigating," Sorey says. Rose nods.

"Next!" The knight calls. The three of us head up, but the knight stops us. "One at a time."

"I'll handle this." Rose steps up, showing her identification. "We're with the Sparrowfeathers."

The knight nods. "Right. Sorry, ma'am. We can't be too careful."

He lets us in, and I realize this is where we'll part. As we walk up, Sergei comes to meet us.

"I am Sergei Strelka. Captain of the Platinum Knights. Defenders of the glory of the Rolance Empire. In cooperating to ensure the empire's peace, you prove your gratitude as much as your loyalty!" Sergei says. I have to admire his dedication.

"Is he always like this or are his boxers chafing him?" Edna asked. I have to fight back a giggle and the urge to correct her.

Rose pulls out the identification she used earlier. "Here you go! Our Merchant Guild pass. We've come to Lastonbell on business, specifically the collection of a bill," she says before pulling me over. "And we're also dropping off a resident. Her name's Melanie."

Sergei accepts the pass, looking at it. He then looks at me. "May I see your identification?"

"Sure, if you can find the thieves who mugged me and left me to die in the Volgran Forest," I lie. "If it weren't for these two, I'd be dead."

"I understand. I'll make this exception only once." Sergei steps aside, allowing me to pass. I look back at Rose and Sorey after taking a few steps.

I wave, and I head into Lastonbell.

* * *

The first thing on my mind was procuring identification. Since most Tales worlds ran off of Earth-world names for their characters, with some exceptions, I knew my name would work here. Finding a place that made identification was hard, but I found one. They, however, charged 1,000 gald for replacement identification! How was I supposed to procure that much gald?

I sat on the bench I found, grumbling to myself. Someone stopped in front of me. I looked up to see a purple-haired seraph.

A bag of gald was dropped at my feet. She grinned. Symonne.

"A down payment on your services. Bring the Shepherd to the darkness, and you'll get so much more!" Symmone says. Bring the Shepherd to darkness? But that would go against everything Sorey was about!

I nudged the bag with my foot, intending to give it back, but she was gone before I could. Left with no other alternative, I picked up the bag. Inside was a bunch of gald and identification papers with my full name on them. Heldalf was using Symmone to buy my services, using her to pull Sorey to the darkness. I grit my teeth and stood up.

* * *

A fist collides with my chest and knocks all the air out of my lungs. I gasp, choking. My trainer grins, bouncing back and forth like he was in a boxing ring. It's been a week since I'd come here and this man, Aevar, has taken me as his apprentice. He's a good man, but sometimes I wonder if he's got a few screws loose. He lets me recover and I attempt to kick him, but he blocks and shoves me back, making me stumble and fall.

"Alright, that's enough," Aevar helps me back up. I breathe... and then punch him in the chest. Aevar stumbles back, eyes wide, but he starts laughing afterwards. "Guess I've gotta keep my eye on you! You still serious about rejoining the Shepherd?"

"Mhm," I nod, following Aevar into the kitchen. He makes Draco Stew this time for dinner, and I assist. "There's no harm in helping someone you're indebted to."

"Wise words. Have you thought of a weapon? This book," he pulls out a book from the shelf, walking back to me. "It tells a story of the sea. But, more importantly, that a man used a bracelet to amplify his strength. I think I still have it somewhere..."

I cover the pot as he tries to sneak a bite before the food is done. "Wasn't that a Seraphim relic?"

"More like a human's. They could see him. Anyway, if you use it... maybe it'll help," Aevar says, pouting. "I have it in my room."

"In that mess? Good lord..." I blink, and he laughs before walking off. I go back to cooking, preparing the meal as carefully as possible. I try not to think of _whose_ bracelet it is. But if it's a certain hellionized dragon seraph's bracelet, I think I might scream.

"Found it!" Aevar calls a few minutes later. I glance at him and he raises the bracelet. My breath catches in my throat. The design, colour and shape are the same. Aevar places the bracelet in my limp hand, blue eyes shining with glee. "Put it on!"

I swallow, but comply. It somehow fits on my right arm if I push it up enough to get it to not slip off. But, unlucky me, it clatters to the floor as soon as I lower my arm. "It won't fit."

"Huh. Try your left!" Aevar puts it on my left arm, and the bracelet grows warm as soon as it reaches my wrist, fitting like a glove. I pull the pot off the stove and put it on the table. Okay, so I might've slammed it down. This bracelet wasn't mine, so it was like I was stealing it. I knew who it belonged to, I knew what happened to its owner.

"Edna's going to kill me," I say, collapsing into a chair. "Edna's going to bury me alive. She's going to end me."

"Who's Edna?" Aevar asked.

"Someone who's going to murder me the moment she sees this bracelet on my wrist."

* * *

 **Whooo, got that out of the way! Due to Mel's interference, some things have changed in the storyline. Plus, she's already got an enemy in the form of an Earth seraph! But I don't think she can change much more... Or can she?**

 **Berseria reference 1: Eizen's bracelet. Because Eizen's arm is slightly bigger than Mel's, it doesn't fit right until put on the appropriate arm, in which it reacts. Why does it react? You'll find out in a later chapter.**

 **This chapter may be revised at a later date.**


	2. Premonitions

_The skies around us are tainted purple, and the malevolence is choking. Sorey presses on forward, with Rose and I trailing behind him. I stumble and fall, coughing. It's hard to breathe in this malevolence and I couldn't understand why Sorey was leading us this way. He was struggling, too. I can hear the seraphim yelling, with Dezel being the loudest, and I wince. Getting back up, though unsteady, I continue following after the two._

 _Heldalf was here. I try to tell Sorey to turn back, but it's futile. My voice is non-existent. We ready ourselves for battle, and Heldalf laughs._

 _He faces me, seemingly teleporting in front of me and grabbing me by my hair. It's futile to struggle, so I stay limp. I hear Sorey yell, and Heldalf tosses me to the ground. With one shot of the arrow, Heldalf is destroyed._

* * *

I scream and wake up, sitting up in bed. What had that dream been about? Sliding out of the bed, I pull on my jeans and shoes before I go out into the city of Lastonbell. People are talking of the upcoming war, and how it'd affect work in Lastonbell, and I want to shut them up. How could they talk so casually about something that'd affect the lives of millions of people? I'm on edge, especially from that dream. The gald bag weighs heavily on my person and my conscience. I was going to end up buried in a grave... alive, no less. But I have no choice now.

"So you're that chick who hangs with Aevar, huh?" A voice asks. I look behind me to see an average looking, if not a bit overweight, man giving me the eye. "Why are you hanging with him when you could hang with me?"

"Because he's fun, and I don't know you," I respond, absolutely disgusted by this man's voice. He sounds like he swallowed seven helium balloons, and I really don't like how his voice breaks as he talks. It's annoying, to say the least. "Listen, I have to go. Training. Aevar's a punctual man!"

I run from him as fast as I can, deciding to leave Lastonbell for a moment until I know it's safe. The knights at the gate give me a fleeting glance as I head out into the world outside. Hellions are everywhere, and I'm left without a means to purify them. But I get into my fighting stance, ready to knock a few hellions aside, and charge in. A kick connects with one of the hellions, sending it staggering back. I follow up with a punch and jump back afterwards. Adrenaline is pumping through my veins. All I can do is knock them around before fleeing, but I don't mind. It helps me train.

A gunshot sounds out, and one of the hellions falls over before the malevolence leaves it. The human that spawned the hellion lays dead on the ground and I step back.

"Humans fighting what they can't see. She's lucky ol' Zaveid was in the area," a familiar male voice says. I look behind me.

Zaveid is standing there, Siegfried in hand. He's gorgeous. Oh, and pretty ripped too. I have to swallow, as my mouth's gone dry. "Did you do that?" I ask as he approaches with a confident swagger. Zaveid pauses, before grinning.

"Hey, you can see me. Great!" He cocks the gun, preparing to fire, but I grab the gun and somehow wrench it from his grasp. The hellions approach, and Zaveid steps forward.

 _"Outlaw Barrage!"_ He yells, whipping the hellion more times than I can count. The movement is fluid and I'm slightly hypnotized. Without realizing it, Siegfried is pulled from my grasp, and two bullets are used to kill hellions.

"Stop it! You're killing them!" I finally yell. Zaveid looks at me.

"They were hellions. And hellions belong in hell," he tells me, echoing a line from his meeting with Sorey. I shake my head.

"They had families and friends. People they needed to go home to... How could you?!" I go to kick him and he dodges. Zaveid shakes his head as he lands, flinging his pendulum at me. I duck, going in to punch. My left sleeve slips down as I try for an uppercut, and Zaveid's eyes widen. His jaw connects with my fist, knocking him back. He stumbles, but grins as he charges me. I go to kick him and a pendulum wraps around my right ankle. Zaveid's grin widens and he yanks back, causing me to lose my balance and fall.

It hurts when I hit the ground, but I try to get back up. Zaveid's other pendulum slices my cheek, and I feel the blood come from the wound. He releases my ankle, and I hop to my feet before running at him and going to kick his chest. His pendulums slice my leg and I cry out in pain. He wasn't going easy on me just because I was a woman.

But my favourite jeans were ripped now. I put my weight on my left leg, still intending to fight. Zaveid withdraws his pendulums before walking over to me, putting a finger to my forehead and gently pushing. I fall over due to being unbalanced, and he laughs before pulling a bottle from his left holster and popping the cork, crouching down and applying it to my wounded leg. The scent of lemons issued from the bottle, which told me the bottle was a lemon gel. How odd, I'd always thought they were gummy candies. After all, they're literally called gummies in Japan.

"Geez, you're pretty tough. Usually these sting so bad, a human cries in pain," Zaveid says. "Guess you're not like the idiot travelers that become hellions over a damn wound."

"I've been hurt worse," I say with a shrug. Zaveid looks at me oddly, then to my left arm. "Something wrong?"

"That bracelet belonged to a friend of mine," Zaveid points out. I act like I don't know he's talking about Eizen and pull my arm to my face, letting the sleeve fall back so I can see the bracelet. "Last I checked, he was still wearin' it when he hellionized."

"Huh... My friend told me it was a relic fron a human," I say. Zaveid puts away the bottle and pulls out a roll of bandages. "Why are you patching my wound?"

"Can't let a lady limp back home," was his response. Once he was done patching my leg, he puts a bandage on my cheek where he'd cut it. "Ain't my style, y'know?"

"No..." He baffles me. In the game, he was flirtatious and hit on all the girls. But here, he hadn't hit on me once! "Your name's Zaveid, right?"

"Yeah. Picked it up from when I said it earlier, huh? You're pretty sharp."

"Mm. I guess." I stand with help from him, and gingerly test my leg. There's barely any pain. "I'm Melanie. But feel free to call me Mel for short."

Zaveid puts an arm around my shoulders. "So, got any plans?"

"Uh, no. But I'd look crazy dating a seraph, so..." I duck out from under his arm. "Maybe when humans can see seraphim again. I've gotta get back home. See you, Zaveid! And thanks!"

Zaveid looks a bit put out, but smiles nonetheless before he turns and walks off in the opposite direction. I head back to Lastonbell, only for the knights to stop me.

"Sorry, but there's been an accident. Come back later, when the roads clear up," he says. I groan. Great. I shake my head and turn away, deciding against everything to just head to Pendrago now. I'd send a letter to Aevar once I got there and tell him of what happened.

I run, despite the fact my leg's injured, and hope to catch up with Zaveid before he gets too far ahead.

* * *

"Zaveid! _ZAVEID!_ "

He finally stops and I catch up to him. "You... walk too fast," I breathe, doubled over. Zaveid chuckles.

"Missed me that much?" He asks. I hold up a hand until I catch my breath. Standing up afterwards, I shake my head.

"Couldn't get back into Lastonbell. Decided to go to Pendrago instead. Are you headed there?" I ask. Zaveid looks into the distance, before he looks back at me.

"Gonna pass by there. Think you can keep up with me?" He says it like a challenge, and I accept it. Despite the fact Zaveid is a walking Persona 3 and JoJo callback, he's actually pretty interesting as a person. I nod, smiling, and he puts an arm around my shoulders. Sighing, I duck out from underneath his arm and start walking ahead.

"Don't fall behind, Zaveid!" I tease, smiling. It fades soon after Zaveid catches up with me.

The two of us merely walk in silence, save for the few times Zaveid tries to hit on me. I deflect his advances, shaking my head. Noting Siegfried, I pause. Still near his ass. At least it wasn't in the middle of his pants at the front.

"Let me get this straight. You kill hellions with a gun that's been near your butt. Isn't that... y'know, unsanitary?" I ask. Zaveid stops, looking back at me before pulling out Siegfried, glancing at it and then at me. "No offense!"

"I've carried this gun like this for longer than you've been alive, Mel. Ain't gonna start changing it now," Zaveid responds, putting the gun back.

I nod. "Still seems unsanitary."

"What can you do?" He grins before walking off, and I stand there for a moment before shaking my head and going to catch up to him. Zaveid soon fills the void with talk, mainly about him and Eizen. There's a hint of adoration in his voice as he speaks about the seraph-turned-dragon. I look at his gun and wonder how many bullets he has, praying there'll be enough when I steal it from him. I'd have to do it when he's sleeping, as he'd get it back if he was awake.

"So he punches me in the stomach and tells me 'Back the hell off. That's my sister, Zaveid'. All I did was comment on how she was really cute in the dress he'd gotten her. But man, if that isn't making up for lost time..." He pauses, glancing at me. "Hey, come on! Cheer up!"

I look up at him. Then I grab Siegfried, backing away. "If you keep using this, you can't save him. You'll kill him," I tell him. I know they kill him, and Edna becomes distraught over that fact. I want to change things.

Zaveid makes a grab for Siegfried, and I dance out of his way. "I have to kill him. I made a promise. 'When I become a dragon, kill me'. He-"

"No! There's a way to save him!" I'm desperate to change this world. But, to save Sorey, to change the fate written for him...

I need to change history.

"Come on, even I know there's no way to save a dragon without killing it," Zaveid tries to grab Siegfried again.

I shake my head. "That's like saying there's no way to stop this war from happening!"

I stop, seeing something out of the corner of my eye. Heading towards it, it looks like cloth and, upon further inspection, turns out to be clothes and a travelling bag. I see Symmone in the distance before she warps away, and stand up with the items in my arms. They were really trying to sweeten the deal and make travelling through Glenwood easier.

I hide behind a tree and get changed. The outfit is, well, complicated. A vest with a clasp at my chest to hold part of it closed, lengthening near my hips and stopping at my knees, sleeves that went from my biceps to my fingertips, which I hiked up a bit to show my hands, a tunic that looked oddly like Alisha's, except it was about a couple inches shorter, a skirt with a couple belts, black leggings and knee-high boots. I put my old clothes in the travelling bag and walk out from behind the tree. Zaveid whistles.

"Damn, that looks good on you," he comments, giving me an appreciative once-over. "Conservative, but hot."

I toss Siegfried back to him and he catches it. "Keep hitting on me and I'll spontaneously combust," I warn. I'd steal Siegfried and the remaining bullets later. I had to.

As we head towards Pendrago, taking a route that Zaveid knows well, it begins to rain. It's a small drizzle at first, barely noticeable unless you're facing the sky, until it becomes a torrent of rain the moment we enter the Pearloats Pasture. Cardinal Forton was doing this, no doubt. The two of us seek shelter from the rain in an abandoned house.

Zaveid wrings his hair out in the basin, dumping it outside, and I dry my clothes the same way. I find an empty book, some envelopes and a... a pen? I pick it up, looking at it. A vision of Symmone leaving these things here under Heldalf's orders flashes through my mind. Sighing, I stuff them into my travelling bag.

"We're almost to Pendrago. I could Wind Rush us the rest of the way," Zaveid offers. I sigh and walk over to him, and he puts an arm around my waist, pulling me close. His body's warm despite the chill, and I find my face growing hot. Before I know it, however, we're outside of Pendrago. He doesn't let go for a moment but, when he does, his fingers brush across my lower back.

'I'll have your back.'

I look over at him, and he grins. "I'll be seein' you, Mel," Zaveid says, before he vanishes. I'm left alone, but feel something in my hand. I open it to see one of Zaveid's pendulums.

He'd come back for this, right?

I put it in my bag and entered Pendrago, finding the inn and getting a room for the night. As I sat on my bed, I pulled out the book and opened it, getting the pen and starting to write my letter to Aevar, telling him where I was and promising to return soon. After tearing the page out, folding it and putting it in the envelope, I write down Aevar's name and Lastonbell. Getting up, I leave my room to see Sorey and Rose at the front desk.

"And what'll you have for dinner?" The innkeeper asks. Sorey looks like he's thinking, but I know one of the seraphim would be choosing.

"Six orders of the Mabo Curry, please!" Sorey responds.

"Alright, I'll put it in with the kitchen," the innkeeper says, before noticing me. I pretend not to have noticed them and walked over to the innkeeper.

"Could you mail this to Lastonbell, please?" I ask. He nods.

"Certainly. It'll go out tomorrow morning," he responds. As I turn away, I pretend to have just noticed Sorey and Rose.

"Melanie? What're you doing here?" Sorey asks. I shrug and tilt my head a little.

"I tried going back to Lastonbell, but they told me there was no way I could get back in." I wave a hand, making sure it's my right one. "So I came here. I didn't expect to see you guys here."

"Well, we're kinda investigating something..." Sorey says, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah," Rose says as she nods in agreement. "This rain's killing the mood around here."

I was about to respond when the innkeeper cleared his throat. "Dinner's ready for you," he says. Seven Mabo Curry. He'd added mine to the mix, it seemed. I take my bowl and spoon, and the seraphim appear to retrieve theirs. I don't look at them, pretending I can't see them like I tried to when we'd first met. We sit together, and I push around the food in my bowl.

"...Can I ask something?" I look to Sorey, who had just put two spoons of curry into his mouth. He chews and swallows before nodding.

"Sure, go ahead."

"..." I glance at the seraphim, letting my gaze linger slightly on Edna before looking back at Sorey. "Can I travel with you again?"

"Welll..."

"It's okay to say no. I just thought I'd ask. Turns out I'm not really hungry," I say, knowing it's a lie. "I'm gonna go to bed."

* * *

The pendulum weighs heavy in my hand as I look out the window. It still baffles me as to why Zaveid left one of his pendulums with me. The seraph was a mystery, and a fucking womanizing one at that. But still, it never crossed my mind why he'd leave it behind with me.

Did he have spares?

"Melanie?" It's Lailah's voice, muffled through the door. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," I say. The door opens, and Lailah comes in. She walks over to my bed and sits on it with me. I slip the pendulum back into my bag, careful not to tangle the cord, and move over so she has more room to sit.

"You never did give Sorey time to answer," she points out. "We just met you a week ago, and... both you and Dezel had a point. You'll just drag us down."

Ouch.

"I wouldn't be here if I was still dead weight," I point out. "I can fight now, even though I've only been training for a week."

"Really?" Lailah asked. "Sorey seemed to want you to join back up... So I suppose it'd be okay."

The flames that'd engulfed me once before reappeared, dispersing as quickly as they'd come. I don't move for a moment before hugging the fire seraph. She seems to be shocked for a moment before she hugs me back. It makes me feel like I'm at home again, where I didn't have to worry about anything but work. Where my mom could hug me, and my worries would go away.

I don't realize I'm crying until Lailah wipes away my tears. She's like a mother, much more so than her in-game counterpart... who just said puns at inconvenient times or when her oath forced her to be random. I smile at her, but then I break.

It's so hard to be away from home. From comfort and security. To be forced to do things I don't want to... The door shuts, and I glance up.

"I'm guessing this is a bad time?" Sorey asks. I shake my head, letting go of Lailah and wiping my eyes. "We're going to head to the Pendrago Shrinechurch."

"Right," I slip off the bed, punching my right fist into my left palm. "I'm not gonna drag you down."

"Hmph. Says the girl who can't fight," Dezel says, lowering his hat.

The memory of watching him die, having sacrificed himself for Rose, flashes through my mind as he says that.

 _"And if they get bummed out about this… Tell 'em, "Hey, I thought you had good to do in the world! Keep mopin' and cryin', and I'll chain you up so tight you can't even breathe!" And then give 'em a good kick in the ass for me._ _ **Good luck out there. Keep on keeping on.**_ _"_

I shake my head, smacking the heel of my palm against it twice. No. He wasn't dying now. Why was I thinking of that? It was stupid. I'd save him when we came back the third time around. I'd prevent his death.

"I can... fight now," I say, voice thick with grief. "I have someone I need to save. I can't dilly dally, sit around and twiddle my thumbs!" My foot stomps on the ground.

"Mel..?" Rose steps forward.

"...I can't afford to laze around," I mutter. "If I do, they'll die and I'll..."

 _I'll become so overcome with grief that I'll become a hellion. I'll have to be killed..._

"We'll help you save them. I promise," Sorey says. But his promise means nothing to me. He never takes the time to look for a way to save Eizen. Never fulfils his promise to Edna... Makes her cry.

"If you break that promise, I'll break your arm," I say, stepping forward. "Promises mean a lot to me, and I _hate_ it when they're broken."

 _You promised. So I'll make sure you see these promises through._

* * *

 **Couldn't find a good stopping point. I'd thought of having this chapter continue the other, but it looked so bad at the beginning that I scrapped it and rewrote. It seems better now.**

 **Zaveid was fun to write for this chapter. He never grows beyond the "skirtchasing playboy with a 'tude" personality, so I took a few liberties and added some different aspects. It seemed to work well, seeing as he still feels like Zaveid to me. He might not've to you readers but, hey! I like to think there's more to the characters than their base personality.**

 **Mel's a bit focused on saving those who can't be saved, but I saw something on twitter while I was surfing through and decided to make it a reality, which birthed her thought of "we can save Eizen". What it is, though, probably won't be told in this fic specifically unless I go through with my alternative idea.**

 **I told my counsellor about this fic last week and she told me to keep writing it since it seems to be helping me. So, no matter how many people hate this fic, I'll keep writing it.**

 **Symmone is making life a bit too convenient for our protagonist. I wonder what she has in mind.**

 ** _Renaglory:_** **I updated it! Hopefully it lives up to your expectations. I was actually pretty afraid of posting it here, but I do hope you continue liking it!**

 ** _Chapter may be updated/rewritten without prior notice._**


	3. Fourty Bullets

They'd left me alone to rest, and I'd fallen asleep immediately after. But it felt like I'd only been asleep for a moment before the sound of rain pounding against a wooden roof wakes me. I open my eyes, staring up at the ceiling. Wait... hadn't I been in the Pendrago Inn just a few moments ago? As I try to figure it out, I hear gentle snoring beside me and shift to look at who it was. Zaveid was laying next to me, looking peaceful as he slept. I go to sit up, looking curiously at his face. There was no trace of the smugness I'd grown used to seeing on the screen. He looks so vulnerable like this, up-close and personal. So much different from him 'taking a nap' outside of Pendrago, where nothing changed in his face.

I find myself simply watching him sleep, but then I remember what I was going to do. I find my bag beside the bed and pulled it onto my lap, opening it and checking the contents. Besides the gald bag and my fake identification papers, there was nothing in here. Not even the pendulum dream!Zaveid had given me. I feel the bed shift, and an arm slides around my shoulders. Zaveid yawns, rubbing an eye and resting his chin on my head.

"What're you doin' awake? I jus' got ya t' sleep," Zaveid says, a heavy drawl in his voice due to his sleepiness. "Y'were... starin' out th' window an' wouldn't respond t'me."

"Did you...?" I asked. No wonder I was feeling sleepy. But, now that I realized it, the cabin was getting chilly. I couldn't go back to sleep. Zaveid was shaking slightly, and I realized he was probably colder than I was. His weight left me, so I turn to see him pulling a jacket on as well as a pair of gloves. He pulls his hair out of the jacket and re-adjusts his necklace so the feathers on it weren't crushed.

And then he sneezed, snapping me out of my trance. "C'mon, Mel. Let's go before we catch our death here."

I nod, slipping out of bed and getting changed in another room. We head out into the downpour. Zaveid looks around before heading off into a direction. We both are still so cold, and the rain makes it worse. Our shoes become muddy, which hamper our progress considerably. By the time we reach Pendrago's gates, the two of us are drenched, cold and have muddy shoes.

"Zaveid," I say, looking at him. He looks back at me, quirking a brow. "Something's wrong. Sorey and the others aren't here, and it's been a week since they left Lastonbell. They should've arrived by now..."

"So his Shepherdness got himself a new babe, huh?" Zaveid says, before he sneezes. "Damn it. Who the hell's making it so damn cold?!"

"You kill hellions for a living, right? Then help me kill a hellion that can't be purified."

He looks at me like I've gone crazy. "Who?"

"Cardinal Forton."

"The Cardinal, huh?" Zaveid pulls out Siegfried, looking at it. "I've got about fourty bullets left. Think I can use a couple to kill her."

I glance away, reminded of his promise to kill Eizen. "Yeah."

We enter Pendrago, and find Sergei fighting off a hellion in the rain. Zaveid goes to shoot it but I catch his arm before he does. When Sergei spots me, he looks for Sorey and Rose. I see his face fall slightly, and mentally curse Sorey for being so late. I walk up to him, Zaveid close behind.

"You okay?" I ask.

"Yes," Sergei responds. "But that was one of the Cardinal's men. I don't understand why they'd just suddenly attack the knights."

"Probably decided that getting the knights out of the way would open up a bigger possibility for the Cardinal," I suggest. Zaveid sneezes yet again, and I glance over at him. "Listen, my friend and I have some business to take care of with the Cardinal. Is there any way we could get into the Shrinechurch?"

Sergei follows my gaze, seeing nothing. "Is there seraphim with you as well?"

"He can't even see me." Zaveid says, shaking his head. I look back to Sergei and hold up one finger for one seraph.

"Just one. So, about getting into the Shrinechurch..."

"I was able to get permission for Shepherd Sorey and his wife to enter, but as they're not here..." He turns away. "If you see them, please let them know I'll be waiting at the knight's tower."

"Will do!" I say as Sergei walks away. Looking back at Zaveid, I jerk my head in the general direction of the Shrinechurch. There's nothing but seriousness in his expression, and he loads Siegfried with a single bullet. I dig into my memory to figure out where to go before we set off at a run, the sound of water splashing the only other thing we hear besides the ongoing rain. Malevolence is thick here, but I press onwards. Rose was supposed to kill the Cardinal and the team was supposed to learn that Dezel was blind. But they wouldn't now.

The people here are already turned to stone as we enter the Shrinechurch. I lead Zaveid forward, bringing up the memory of the seventeen times I had to go through this place because the Cardinal kept petrifying the party before I could get Rose to armatize with Dezel. But the layout here is vastly different.

 _Too_ different.

Somehow, though, we got through it to see the statues of the people that the Cardinal had petrified... including Sergei's brother. The poor souls would never live again. "It's awful. These poor people..."

"Guess this hellion's got the power to petrify. I kind of don't wanna end up as a statue," Zaveid says. I tap on one of the statue's arms, and shake my head.

"It's just like I figured. Sorey and the others are too late..."

"Such unpleasant cacophony. Kindly refrain from disturbing my prayer," Cardinal Forton's voice says as it carries over to us. Zaveid and I look over, and I shield my eyes.

"This is your doing, isn't it? Your prayer's causing this eternal rain," I say as I try not to look. But without armatization, there was no way I could fight. Zaveid could fight by reading the wind... that was the only thing we had going for us.

Cardinal Forton slides forward. "Yes. To bring the people together through fear is the goal I wish to seek. I hear that this is your goal as well," she says, addressing me. I grit my teeth.

"That's the worst goal ever."

"So you seek to stop me?" She asks. Zaveid grunts. I chance a look over to see he's gotten into his battle stance and has shut his eyes. "Then... I shall offer you both eternity!"

She lashes out, and we both dodge. The statue we were near breaks upon the Cardinal hitting it with one of her snakes. I hear the familiar sound of Zaveid's pendulum flying through the air, and I move quickly to the source. But his hand meets my shoulder as he shoves me aside when I reach him. Cardinal Forton attacks him, and he cries out. I could feel my blood run cold at the thought of Zaveid becoming a living statue, and I stand up.

My body moves without my command, and I punch the Cardinal to free Zaveid from her grasp. He opens a small bottle and downs the contents, gagging lightly. I help him back up, and do my best not to look at the Cardinal. We're sunk.

"Guess I have no choice," Zaveid says, taking my hand in his. "A temporary partnership. I don't plan on being tied down to anyone."

The Cardinal goes to attack us, but Zaveid beats her back with a well-timed Outlaw Barrage. As she lays on the floor, recovering, Zaveid returns his attention to me. "Though, I'm glad my temporary partner's a woman."

He takes in a breath, exhaling. _"Beheld by the wind and carried by the stars, the pact of the ages stands untouched by time. Let our bond be formalized by this pact, as Seraph and Human. Thy true name as my pact partner shall be..._

 _"Nimukali Jiketoi."_

He vanishes in an instant afterwards, and I feel something warm inside of me. A welcome presence. The Cardinal gets up, but I no longer feel afraid of being petrified.

 _"Now, Mel! Invoke my true name! Use my power!"_ Zaveid yelled. _"My true name is-"_

 ** _"FILK ZADEYA!"_**

The armatization with Zaveid was different than what it had been with Lailah. I glanced at myself, and heard an appreciative whistle from the wind seraph. Not only was I wearing an alteration of his outfit, but I wasn't wearing anything under the jacket! _And it was still open!_

"You pervert, you did this on purpose!" I scream at him. All Zaveid does is laugh, which only serves to frustrate me. At least I have a belt to keep the jacket from slipping off. Talk about your inconvenient fanservice, though. I make a mental note to never again armatize with Zaveid while we were together. I check for a weapon and find that, in the same hand from my realistic dream, there was a single pendulum.

The Cardinal lunges, and I jump out of the way, soaring higher than I'd ever done outside of armatization. Using Zaveid's guidance, I swing the pendulum at her, piercing her shoulder. Our pact had been made with a solitary weapon, it seems... Not the ancient divine artifact he has and uses as a vessel, but the pendulum. I pull it back, landing on the ground. Zaveid's confidence overflows, and he knows we're going to win. I smirk before rushing in and delivering a kick to her head, sending her crashing back. The armatization wears off and, as the doors to the sanctum open, Zaveid kills the Cardinal with one bullet. There's no malevolence, yet she'd become a hellion.

"Melanie...?" I look up to see Sorey and the others. Zaveid mutters something under his breath, and I suddenly feel empty. So this was how it felt to have a pact between a seraph and a human disappear? "Melanie, you and Zaveid just-"

"She couldn't be saved, Sorey," I say, looking to the side. I avoid looking at Zaveid, knowing that they'd come to the conclusion we were working together on their own. But we weren't. "It was because of her these people were petrified."

"She could've been purified!" Sorey said. "We could have quelled her, there was no need to-"

"Sorey..." Lailah looks at me. "Melanie, what you and Zaveid did was kill someone that we could have saved."

"Mel's telling the truth," Zaveid says, shrugging. "She's a smart one. The Cardinal was a hellion, after all."

"But-!" Sorey clenches his fist. I feel bad, and terribly guilty. Now he'll never come to understand that killing was needed when one could be saved.

 _What have I done?_

"...I'm sorry. It... had to be done."

* * *

The sun was showing once I left the Shrinechurch. Sitting on the steps, I put my face in my hands. A familiar presence made itself known, and I groan.

"You've yet to bring the Shepherd to the darkness," Symmone says, voice bored. "And after I put all that effort into that illusion..."

"Yeah, well... funny thing about that. Sorey's too pure to corrupt," I respond. "And that's why it was so realistic... yet something was really off. Should've known."

She prods me with her weapon. "If you want to go home, you'll turn the Shepherd to the darkness. And we won't allow failure. If you don't do this, Heldalf will be displeased."

I stand up. "Mhm. As if I'd displease the great lord Heldalf. Look, let me do things my way. I have a plan."

Symmone giggled. "Purifying the dragon on the Spiritcrest isn't much of a plan. Perhaps if you do this, Heldalf will absorb the dragon's malevolence and change him back."

"Just eager to have me on your side, aren't you?" I stand, looking back at her. Her vacant expression was staring right back at me. "If I want to go home, that is. Right?"

Symmone nods.

I look away, starting down the path. "I'll do things how I want. Stay out of my way."

I leave her behind, going to locate Zaveid. He'd left before me, and I'd gotten caught up talking to Symmone... Oh, I hoped he hadn't left without me. Going with Sorey seemed too much of a hassle after that argument I'd gotten into with Dezel. Kill or be killed... What a joke.

"Argh..." I feel pain in my leg, shooting up it and causing me to move my weight to my uninjured leg. Had there been a pain-numbing agent in the gel Zaveid used? "It hurts."

I start to limp, my leg aching if I put so much as a quarter of my weight on it. I wouldn't catch up in time. He was going to leave without me. I stop, sitting on the cobblestone despite how wet it was. Of course he'd leave. He was the wind itself, and I was just a human.

Something, or someone, helps me up. I don't look at who it is, coming to realize I'd need to find a way to the wind temple and wait there until Zaveid showed up to kill the Dullahan. Then there's water between my toes, and a pain in my leg that brings me back to reality. I kick, and my foot connects with something hard. I hear splashing, and look to the source.

"Warn me when you're gonna kick my face. That hurt," Zaveid says. He's crouched down, and I realize he has me against a pillar to support my weight. He pulls my legging up, undoing the bandages. "We'll rest here until your wound heals. Then we'll head out again. Didn't plan on takin' ya, but plans change all the time. After all, can't just abandon you."

"Thought you already left..." I mutter. He laughs.

"The world'll eat you alive, Mel. Someone's gotta teach you how to use that bracelet, anyway. I remember most of the artes Eizen used, so I could probably teach you."

"Thanks... I guess." Zaveid finishes bandaging my wound with fresh bandages and stands up after helping me put on my boot. I feel someone staring, and glance over to see Sorey and the others.

Right. They were returning to the inn for dinner. Which means we'll be heading in the same direction.

"Melanie..." Sorey says, and I glance away. I tug the sleeve on my left arm down, trying to hide the bracelet from prying eyes. This is the worst.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not taking back what I said. There are some people who can't be saved..." I think of Eizen, who'd end up getting killed by Sorey, and of those who'd be affected the most. "So... don't. I don't want to argue any more."

"Okay," Sorey says. He seems to understand. "You and Zaveid should get some rest. You're falling asleep on your feet."

"Alright..."

It's temporary, but we travel to the inn together. I hold the door open for them, and we all go inside. Booking a room is easy, and I head to my room with Zaveid close behind. I change clothes to my old ones behind the changing screen and go to curl up in bed. The bed shifts, and Zaveid sits on the edge.

"Come on, knucklehead. Lay down." I lightly tug on his hair and he removes the belts from his wrists, placing them on the table. After kicking off his boots, he lays down beside me like he did at the cabin.

"I needed a nap, anyway." Zaveid says, yawning. He sneezes afterwards and I laugh. "What's got you laughing?"

"You're so human-like!" I say, smiling. "Honestly! And you're interesting."

"Am I?" He turns to face me, grinning with his chin propped in his hand. "Most seraphim don't give me the time of day. But they all know me by now."

"Reaaaallly..." I drawl, poking his nose. He blinks, scrunching it up, and I dissolve into giggles. I certainly was tired. "Go to sleep, Zaveid. We'll continue travelling soon."

Before I know it, he's out like a light, snoring gently. I pull the blankets over him and myself, and close my eyes. Maybe, if I wake up later, I'll find this is all a dream.

That's my final thought as I doze off, comforted by the warmth of the blankets and the seraph beside me.

* * *

 **Yep. The majority of the last chapter was just an illusion created by Symmone. She's fun. Fun to write, that is. Anyhow, this felt easier to write. Two weeks and two days since the last chapter was posted, and I feel bad but... Hey, I was having fun roleplaying. And writing stuff I can't post here.**

 **Berseria reference 2: Zaveid's jacket and gloves. Yep. Zaveid's in Berseria. That's a spoiler in itself, but I know a lot of people already spoiled themselves for the game.**

 **Fun fact: I bs'ed the majority of this chapter because I couldn't think and I wanted to embarrass Melanie. Also, her true name from Zaveid means "Resolute Melanie" or "Melanie the Resolute". Either way...**

 **Story Lore: Seraphim can make temporary pacts with people but will need to redo their pact with their artifact as soon as the temporary pact is broken. Zaveid never fully finished the pact, so he was still bound to his artifact. But why did he use his pendulum as the artifact...? Mysterious, or just me bs'ing shit again.**

 ** _Guest #1:_** **Oooh, boy. I try not to be but Self Inserts aren't very well received in any fandom. I'm hoping you still look forward to more! Slash isn't my game, usually, so I understand that non-slash is a breath of fresh air. Haaah. I'm blabbering. Sorry.**

 ** _Guest #2:_** **Yeah, I know. It's not good. If, uh, that's what you mean. I got kind of confused. But either way, it's your opinion. *shrug***

 ** _Chapter will be revised/updated without prior notice._**


	4. False Shepherd

Zaveid's still sleeping when dawn comes. I slide out of bed, careful not to wake him, and head downstairs to get breakfast for us both. Sorey and the others are already awake, and he waves me over after I place my order for breakfast and pay the amount needed. They're eating soup, which makes me stare in confusion. Unconsciously, I grasp the bracelet on my wrist. Glenwood certainly was different from Earth, that was for sure.

"You're not wearing your glasses," Sorey points out. I blink, then touch my face. Shoot. I left them in Lastonbell, didn't I? But I didn't need them, really, so it wasn't much of a loss. "Did they break?"

"Nope. Left them in Lastonbell. Didn't really need them, anyway." I wave a hand. "Anyway, you guys leaving?"

"After we eat," Dezel says, 'looking' over at me. "We've got work to do."

"Mmm..." I make a noncommital noise. "As much as I'd love to go with, I can't. I'm kind of indebted to Zaveid, so..."

"Are you in love?" Lailah asked, smiling knowingly. Well, now everyone was looking at me. I stare, before realizing Lailah was asking me. I put my hands on the table, leaning forward. I'd only met Zaveid yesterday! How can I-

The game. That's right. I'd liked everyone, but Dezel and Zaveid had been my favourites. I cough, mouth covered, and look away. "Maybe...? I just met him yesterday, so..."

"Some humans fall in love at first sight!" Lailah says. My face is suddenly burning. Am I being teased?!

"Well, he is pretty cute," Rose offers.

"He's an idiot," Edna prods me with her parasol. I look at her, and she smirks. I come to realize that she sees the bracelet, but... she's not commenting on it. How... odd. Unless Eizen never wore it around her, she should recognize it. "A brawny idiot who thinks fighting's the only answer."

"Sorey, ask her already," Dezel says, breaking up the chatter. I'm grateful for it. Sorey blinks before realization dawns on his face.

"Right! Well, I was going to ask if you'd be staying here," Sorey says, before he looks to my injured leg. "But I'm guessing you'll be staying a bit."

"I am. Zaveid told me we're staying until my wound heals... A wound he inflicted- Oh." They're all looking at me. I rub the back of my neck. "We fought outside of Lastonbell and he got me pretty good. But he patched me up afterwards... We've been travelling together since."

"Have you two entered a pact?" Lailah asks.

"...Well, temporarily..." I shake my head. "We had to or else we couldn't have..."

Lailah stands, walking over to me and taking my hand, reading my palm. It's quiet for a moment before she blushes and pulls out some cards. "I'll tell your fortune. Please, pick one."

"Um..." I pick the middle one. She gaspa and hugs me, and I feel really awkward. "Lailah, you're okay, right?"

"There's marriage in your future!" Lailah said, looking happy. "You should start planning!"

"Can I be a bridesmaid?!" Rose asks.

"I'm the maid of honour," Edna casually sips her drink.

"And Sorey'll walk you down the aisle!" Lailah says. I'm dying on the inside. Was she doing this to lift my spirits?

"Thanks..." I murmur, rubbing my face. "Lailah, why'd you ask if Zaveid and I entered a pact?"

"He's basically not one to tie himself down to anything, but the fact that he did with you, although temporary, means he must trust you," Lailah explains. I blink. "Especially if he's given you his true name. Among the seraphim, giving someone their true name means that they trust them. He seems to be really sweet on you, too."

Well, that makes me cover my face and groan loudly. "We just met! I swear!"

The service bell rings. "One order of french toast and one order of steak and eggs!" The innkeeper calls. Saved.

"That's mine! Well, guess I'll be seeing you guys later," I say, smiling. As I walk away, I hear Mikleo say something about ruins. Shaking my head, I collect the food and head back to my room, setting the plates on the nightstand while being careful enough not to knock his belt bracelets off and sitting next to Zaveid, who's still snoring. I gently shake him.

"Zaveid, wake up. Zaveid. Wake up. I got breakfast. Come on..." I poke his side. Ridiculous. His food would get cold and eggs tasted horrible cold. I shake him again and he grumbles, turning over and forcing me down with an arm. He's warm, comfortable, and I'm trapped under his arm. Turning over, I poke his nose.

"Come on, sleepyhead, wake up." I say. But he doesn't. Wiggling an arm out, I pat his face. "Zaveid, I-"

In the next moment, Zaveid's hand is behind my head and his lips meet mine. He groans lightly, opening his eyes which widen in shock and he pulls away, sitting up. "Damn it! I'm sorry! I was having a really good dream and... Fuck!" He's absolutely mortified. So mortified he doesn't have that heavy drawl in his voice from last night. I start laughing, shaking my head as I sit up. Grabbing a pillow, I lightly bop him with it.

"You're forgiven. I got breakfast," I say, passing him the food I'd ordered him. He takes it, picking up the fork and stabbing the steak with it. He takes a bite out of it, chewing it and swallowing.

I try to start on my food but I don't feel hungry. I'm never hungry when I first wake up, so I poke at my food while Zaveid hungrily devours his, making noises of content. He finishes with a sigh, setting the plate aside. I place it on the nightstand along with mine and sit there. It's actually awkward for a moment before Zaveid sits next to me and puts an arm around my shoulders.

I don't move, and he rests his chin on my head like he did yesterday. "Never thought I'd wake up kissing anyone."

"To be fair, I could've murdered you right then," I say jokingly. He laughs, putting his other arm around me and shifting slightly.

"So, you got any plans?" Back to hitting on me, it seemed. I lean back, resting against him.

"Yup. For the next millenia," I say.

"Damn." He moves a hand, and I glance up to see him running it through his hair. "You're cruel, Mel."

"Nah. Just rational." I shrug. He lets go of me and gets off the bed. I hear him groan, and look over to see him stretching. He picks Siegfried up off the ground, placing it near his ass again. "Zaveid...?"

He looks to me, and I have to look away, suddenly feeling like I offended him. "I'm sorry. I..."

I realize that I'm close to crying and need to leave before he sees. Getting up, I leave without a word, hearing him call my name. It was irrational, but I didn't want to stick around after feeling like that. I run to the Shrinechurch, collapsing in the cortyard and breathing heavily. My brain's overloading me with the scenario that saying that made Zaveid hate me. I don't know why, but thinking that hurt.

I find myself choking out sobs, tears running down my cheeks. I can't breathe. I can't _breathe_ and I can't stop crying. I need to calm down but my brain wasn't letting me. Footsteps, pounding hard on the cobblestone, approach me and someone's there beside me. Oxygen is forced into my lungs and I choke, gasping for air afterwards. Hands rest on my shoulders, squeezing gently, and I'm pulled into a hug until I stop crying and can finally breathe again. I pull away from the person, wiping my eyes and sniffling. I feel sick, but I always do after crying. My head feels warm and my nose is stuffy. "Sorry. I... I just needed to find a safe place, y'know? Secluded... I'm okay."

"Don't need to lie to me, Mel." Zaveid's voice is so close, right near my ear. I look over to see him, and nearly start crying again. "Guess ol' Zaveid screwed up, huh?"

"No, no!" I shake my head, tapping his cheek with my hand lightly. "No. I just have something wrong with my brain. I overthink. I do that a lot. It's my fault. I just... I guess I needed that. I've been away from home for a week and a few days, and that combined with being here... It just got to me."

"Let's go back to the inn, alright? We can talk more there."

I nod, allowing him to help me to my feet. He doesn't move from my side, catching me when I stumble and nearly fall. People stare at me weirdly, and I flush in embarrassment. Zaveid's invisible to most humans, so... of course it's weird to suddenly stop in mid-air.

 _"He seems to be really sweet on you, too."_

Lailah's words return to me and I step to the side, glancing at Zaveid. "Hey, Zaveid, why are you so... um, not arrogant around me? I don't understand. You're usually..." I snap my fingers to indicate disappearing. "Gone. Vanished. What's keeping you with me when you can just... yeah, go wherever you want."

"Do you want me to?" Zaveid asks. I hold up my hands.

"Zaveid. No. I'm just trying to figure out why you're sticking around a human girl. And acting weird. Sorey said he met a really arrogant and full-of-himself seraph when we were travelling together so I..."

Zaveid laughs. "Hey, I'm only arrogant when it comes to kicking hellion ass. I'd rather not show weakness in battle."

"...Oh." I start walking to the inn again and he walks beside me yet again. We head to our room and I carefully shut the door behind me once Zaveid's in. Sitting on the bed, I look over at Zaveid, who sits on the other side. It's silent for a bit until he shifts and moves, the bed dipping with his weight.

"Don't understand why I stick around, either. I'm as stumped as you are," Zaveid says. I look over to him, and he's laying down with his hands behind his head. "Guess having someone around was something I was missing. I've been on my own for centuries, since Eizen became a dragon."

That must've been difficult. "I'm sorry. That's hard."

Zaveid rolls over, laying on his side and propping his head up on a hand. I can see his muscles move under his skin as he does, and force myself to look away. Damn ethereal, handsome, muscular seraph! "Don't sweat it. Seraphs turn into dragons sometimes. Can't help that."

"Right." And yet, my mind is still on the Eizen sidequest. If only Sorey actually kept his promise to Edna...

* * *

Several days later, we leave Pendrago. I'd ditched the outfit Symonne had given me for something seemingly more practical... but kept the bag. Zaveid's walking beside me, and we head down a familiar path. We fight hellions, but I turn my back when he kills them. As we walk, I remember my purpose and I clutch the strap of my bag tight. I was working for Heldalf against my own will, so I was keeping myself as far away from Sorey as possible, dirty money be damned. On that note, I drop the gald bag beside a rock and leave it behind.

"Damn, I think the malevolence is getting thicker," Zaveid says. I tap his arm and point to a different direction. Heldalf would surely corrupt Zaveid if we were to continue that way.

"Thick malevolence means the Lord of Calamity is out prowling around . Let's go this way," I say, pulling on his arm lightly until he does follow me. He wants to kill the Lord of Calamity, I can see it with the way his hand inches towards Siegfried. If he keeps using bullets, then... Then Eizen couldn't be...

Zaveid grabs me, pulling me to hide behind a boulder. We wait in silence as a caravan passes us. Peeking out, we see just a merry band of travellers. They stop, blocked by a hellion.

"Hey, kid. Move!" The guy driving the caravan says. I step out from behind the boulder, looking at the hellion. It hisses menacingly. A human kid, hellionized. Zaveid would kill the child and...

I clench my fist, running forward ahead of the caravan to the hellion, swiping at it with a kick. It jumps back, hissing again. I glance back at the caravan and to the driver. His eyes are wide in shock, and I feel why a second later. Sharp, sharp fangs are sinking into my shoulder. Zaveid's pendulum flies by, knicking my cheek and hitting the hellion. To them, though, it'd look like something invisible cut me and the kid.

Except one of the people, a young man, follows the pendulum's path with his eyes and sees Zaveid. He gasps, pointing.

"An honoured seraphim!" He says. "The seraphim are here! This girl's the Shepherd! We're saved!"

A murmur breaks out, and I cough. Zaveid merely smirks, walking over and opening a bottle, pouring it on my wound. I hiss in pain as the medicine does its work and seals my wounds. My new jacket and shirt are wet, but it's a small price to pay for the help. "Oh, dear Shepherd! Please forgive us! Dear Seraphim, we'll lend you our aid!" The caravan cries. I wince. Great. Make things worse for Sorey. First labelled a heretic, now to be labelled as a false Shepherd. Zaveid kills the hellion while I'm distracted, and the child...

"You... Zaveid, that-!" I can't contain myself. I punch him as hard as my body allows, stifling a sob. He'd killed a kid. A _kid!_ Someone whose life had barely begun. The young man from the caravan comes over, restraining me. Zaveid actually looks guilty... for once. But we hear a weak sound, and the child sits up. One of the women rushes over to collect the child and moves them away, clearing a path for the caravan.

"Honoured Shepherd, where are you headed?" The young man asks. I grimace.

"I dunno. Wherever the wind takes me...?" I manage lamely. "Listen, you got it wrong. I'm not a Shepherd. Or the Shepherd. Not his Shepherdness, nope-" I cut myself off, groaning, as Zaveid starts to laugh. Great, involuntarily calling Sorey 'his Shepherdness'. Guess Zaveid was rubbing off on me. The young man looks from me to Zaveid as the caravan starts to roll by.

That's when I recognize the young man. Of all the places-

"Aevar?" I question. He jolts, then looks at me suspiciously. His eyes then fall on the bracelet on my wrist.

"Mel! Didn't expect you went off to become the Shepherd!" He says. "Am I lucky or what?"

"You know this guy?" Zaveid asked. I nod. Aevar had acted so different at first, but it was his face and hair that had given him away. So far from Lastonbell, but why?

"Yeah. He's my... uh, trainer? The guy who taught me how to fight mano a mano."

"I'm Aevar," Aevar says, holding his hand out. Zaveid studies him before taking it and shaking hands.

"Zaveid," he says. They let go, and I punch Aevar's shoulder.

"What happened to your dojo?"

"The army needed it, so they took it."

I sigh. "Zaveid, mind if he comes with?"

"As long as he doesn't get in my way," Zaveid says. I'm still kind of pissed at him for nearly killing a child, so we all walk in silence save for when we're fighting off hellions. Aevar is a huge help to us, assisting both Zaveid and I with quickly-timed artes I recognize as both Senel and Jude's. Zaveid doesn't pull out Siegfried and kill them, strangely enough, so the hellions escape as he hesitates.

We enter Westronbolt Gorge, heading down the familiar path to the Wind Trial. Here, we'd meet Sorey and the others again... and fight them. Zaveid leaves us at the bottom of the temple as he heads up to find the hellion here to kill it. Aevar whistles in appreciation after Zaveid leaves, walking over and putting his arm on my head, using it as an armrest.

"He's sexy," Aevar says. I feel myself blush and look at him. "And those muscles! I wonder how often he works out..."

"Often," I supply, trying not to think of how Zaveid's muscles moved as he walked or shifted in place... or... I groan, burying my face in my hands. I was supposed to be mad at him! Not admiring the image of his muscles!

Footsteps approached and I glance behind me to see Sorey and the others. My head turns to the sky, making Aevar's arm slip off. A man falls, and Sorey calls out Dezel's true name before saving the man. I tap Aevar's arm and turn to face them.

The Dullahan crashes to the ground, and Zaveid jumps away from it.

"You're here to kill more hellions!" Sorey said. Aevar looks at them, and then at me. "Zaveid... Melanie... We can quell them! There's no reason to kill them!"

"My way's to put hellions back in hell!" Zaveid says, doing the pose he's most known for.

"Some hellions have to be killed. That's... the only way," I manage, glancing away.

"You haven't changed," Edna says to Zaveid. He chuckles.

"Then you know what I'm about to do next... Don't you, Edna?" Zaveid asks, voice dropping a couple octaves. He pulls Siegfried out, twirling it expertly, and points it at his head.

"You're going to fight us?! What's the point of that?!" Mikleo asks.

"I don't need you guys getting in my way all the time. I don't waste my bullets." Zaveid smirks. "Time for Professor Zaveid to give you a lesson in ass-whuppin'!"

He fires the gun, powering himself up. Aevar and I get ready to fight, too. We're horribly outnumbered, but we do our best. Lailah and Rose go after me while Sorey and Mikleo go after Zaveid. Edna and Dezel take on Aevar, who seems to look as if he's having fun.

We fight bravely, but we lose.

Horribly.

* * *

If Sorey couldn't quell the Dullahan, we'd come back and kill it. I was starting to understand, but I still couldn't condone outright killing something. Zaveid lingers close, and I glance back at him. He doesn't say a word as we head out of the Westronbolt Gorge, going in a random direction. We all knew Sorey would quell the hellion, so it made sense not to stick around.

Zaveid stops, looking behind him. Aevar and I stop, too, looking at him curiously.

"Something's wrong," Zaveid says, voice dangerously low. "We'd better seek shelter. Now!"

* * *

 **Where was I going with this? I dunno. But I know we have one chapter left. Not of the story, but of this part of it. I've decided to go through with a slightly altered version of my original plan. I should have the final chapter of the 'bad ending' of the story up by Sunday, catching me up with the schedule I had. I also edited out a part that made no sense to me.**

 **Aevar returns at a bad time, it seems. And with the ability to see seraphim, at that! Zaveid didn't really kill the hellion, as it was retconned halfway through the game that Siegfried severs malevolence from the affected. So I kinda went with that. Also I left Mel's new outfit ambiguous due to the fact I just wanted a more practical outfit for her but didn't know how to describe it.**

 **I have to admit, teasing Mel is fun. She's really easily embarrassed, too. So that's going for her. Lailah's also pretty good at reading people, or so I like to think.**

The sleep kiss was just a Zaveid thing. I like to think that this is why he doesn't share a bed with anyone platonically. I dunno. I was half asleep when I wrote it.

 ** _Alissia576:_** **It posted with your username! Glad you're still looking forward to it. And yeah, they're usually not because a lot of people hate them for some reason? I dunno why. That sounds like a good fic though. I'll check it out sometime! I'll try not to blabber much, though. I get kiiiind of annoying when I do. And I shall... um, try to have fun!**

 ** _Pikapikaluv:_** **Yes, another chapter! Haha, you can ship them if you want. Booping Zaveid is Mel's life purpose (I'm kidding). Hhhhhhh, cute? cute? I'm dying. Save me. Okay, but seriously, I was surprised when I saw your review in wanting to ship Mel and Zaveid and I just. didn't expect it? Yeah. Unexpected.**

 **Chapter will be revised/updated without prior notice.**


	5. Part 1 End: The End of Glenwood

We run.

Zaveid boosts our speed with windstepping as we head towards a safe place. Thunder booms in the distance, and I start to understand why Zaveid had told us we needed to move. Slowly but surely, as we duck into a cave, it starts to rain. Zaveid collapses to the ground, panting. He's worn out, and I can understand why. Neither of us were Shepherd or Squire, which made things a lot harder for him. All things considered, this was getting bad.

"Sorey killed Heldalf..." I mutter, shaking my head. They were in a cabin, waiting for the rain to stop. Aevar collapses, and then I collapse as well. We can all feel the malevolence collecting, strengthening. Aevar becomes a hellion, and Zaveid struggles to kill him. I watch, and lower my head as Aevar's body hits the ground. The malevolence plugs my hearing, and Zaveid crawls over to me. The pressure is too much for either of us. As it increases, I realize Maotelus would destroy the world.

"Zaveid, make a pact with me..." I whimper. He mouths something, but I can only hear my own voice. I grab his hand, feeling tears come to my eyes. We were going to die. "Please!"

He opens his mouth, and I get the idea. I'm fed a gel and, momentarily, my hearing is restored.

"Gotta... tell ya... This wasn't how I thought I'd go out..." Zaveid says. "Thinkin'... a pact might... not be so bad right now."

I move to Aevar's body, pulling out a knife from his bag. Zaveid follows. I place it between us, covering the hilt with my hand. "This'll... be our artifact. Zaveid... Hurry!"

He nods, covering the blade with his hand. His other hand covers mine. I look up at him, and he grins through the pain. The cave starts to rumble, and the entrance is sealed.

We don't have much time.

Zaveid starts to recite something in the ancient language as the cave starts to collapse. I inch closer, and butt his shoulder with my head. He chuckles, wincing. The top of the cave is torn off, and the rain has become a torrent. He stops reciting and looks up.

"Mel... From here on, we're in... this together," Zaveid says, struggling to stay upright. The knife feels warm under my hand, and he kisses my cheek before he vanishes and I feel a warmth in my chest. I close my eyes, feeling heavier than ever, and drift off to an unpleasant sleep, waiting for death to claim Zaveid and I both.

* * *

 **Short chapter this time around. As I said, this was the end of the first part of the fic. I'm working on the next chapter already, and will probably have it posted sooner than usual to make up for the shortness of this chapter.**

 **The next part'll follow the plotline as closely as I can get, but not word-for-word. As for why Zaveid made a pact with Mel again (over a dead man's knife, no less)... well, impending death makes people do crazy shit. Hah... hahaha... *lies down***

 **I've been thinking of posting this on Ao3 but, due to all the SorMik there, I'm thinking I shouldn't. Should I? ...Maybe?**

 ** _Pikapikaluv:_** **Spoiled, eh? Me? Naaaah, I couldn't have xD Oh gosh, I've read fics where Zaveid was present and let me tell you... a lot of them didn't explore beyond the surface of what you see in the game. Really? That's good! (I hear he's almost the same personality wise in Berseria... and OH GOD THE ANIME VERSION OF HIM. Episode 8. Just. Holy crap. Bring. Tissues. ) I hope my interpretation of Zaveid continues to be good enough for you hhhh.**

 ** _Chapter will be revised/updated without prior notice_**


	6. Part 2 Start: Waking in Ladylake

I slowly open my eyes, staring up at a ceiling. A stone ceiling, not wooden like I was used to. Groaning, I sit up and rub my aching head, stretching afterwards. My body feels uncomfortable at first, but I soon adjust to the feeling of being awake. There's a flash of light, and Zaveid is standing next to me, yawning widely.

"Man, that's what I call a nap," he says. The bed dips under his weight as he sits next to me. "Feelin' better, Mel? You were pretty ill the past fe-" He stops talking almost immediately. I register what he was saying, and grip the bedsheets tight.

I'd been ill. Adjusting to his power and being his vessel. If what Zestiria's lore said was true, then that meant...

That meant that I was...

"That's... I mean..." I swallow. Zaveid pulls me into a hug, oddly out of character for him. Until I realize I'm crying. "Oh god, Zaveid. How are we alive? Sorey killed Heldalf and Maotelus destroyed Glenwood with malevolence... By all means, we should be- We should be-!" I can't breathe, and I find myself desperately clinging to Zaveid and trying to focus my thoughts elsewhere. Zaveid is patient, his hand rubbing my back in an attempt to calm me down.

"I don't understand it either, Mel. Maybe somethin' saved us. That's all I can think of," Zaveid offers lamely. I laugh a bit, disengaging from the hug and wiping my eyes. The door opens, and Zaveid vanishes to reside within me again. A man steps in, his eyes focusing on me. He grins before walking over to the bed and sitting where Zaveid had been a second ago.

"Good, you're awake. Since you are, let's talk payment for me taking care of you," the man says, putting a hand on my thigh. I glance at his hand, grabbing his wrist and am out of the bed in an instant, forcing him up against the wall with his hand trapped behind his back.

Zaveid materializes behind me, grabbing my arm and pulling me back before I harmed the man. He punched the man in the face, knocking him out cold. "That's for trying to corrupt us. We best get out of here before he wakes back up."

"Yeah."

We leave once I find my shoes and bag, kept safe by a maid who worked for the man, and Zaveid decides that it's better for him to remain within me until we're out of the city. I could recognize this place without even needing to ask. We were in Ladylake, which meant that we'd be meeting Sorey soon. I decided to try to head for the Falkewin Hillside, and Zaveid assists with windstepping. But I really need to keep an eye out.

I slam right into Sorey, and we both fall over. Zaveid groans. _"Guess you need to work on watching where you're going."_

I don't respond, standing up and tenderly testing my weight on my leg. It aches a bit, but nothing I can't handle. Sorey gets up, too, and laughs it off. It makes me want to punch him.

I don't dwell on the feeling, though. Zaveid makes a strange noise, and I automatically go to look behind me to see that he's not there. Typical. I have to get used to this whole 'vessel of a seraph' thing. I look back to Sorey, shaking my head. "Sorry, I got distracted. You're okay, right?"

"Yeah. Don't worry about it." Sorey grins. I sigh, rubbing my eyes. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Just got out of a bad situation, no worries."

"She doesn't seem like she's lying," Mikleo says. "I'd be careful just in case. She could be a hellion."

"I agree. We should be careful," Lailah agrees. I look over to them and sigh, putting my hands on my hips.

"I'm standing right here, y'know." I say. That startles them. Zaveid laughs at that.

"So, you can see the seraphim?" Alisha's voice asks. I look over to her. This was their third trip back to Ladylake, then? Before Alisha left the group to make room for Rose? I nod in response to her question.

"You've got pretty high resonance, then!" Sorey looks excited. I have to laugh at that, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Only because I nearly died." It's not truly a lie. After all, Zaveid and I were supposed to be dead and, well, here we are. "Apparently a near-death experience opens one's eyes to the other world. In some cases.. I probably had enough resonance to hear, but not see before I almost died."

"That sounds horrible!" Alisha exclaims. I shrug.

"Not that horrible. I'm on my way to Marlind, since I've exhausted my options here. Where are you guys headed?" A stupid question. I _knew_ they were headed to Marlind as well. But they had to get Edna first to help rebuild the bridge. Edna...

"We're headed there, too!" Sorey says with a grin. "You can come with us! Hey, Lailah, can you do another Squire's pact?"

"I think so," Lailah moves to stand between us, but I step back. "Is something wrong?"

"No! No! I'm fine, I'm fine. There's... Ah, I'm taking care of an injured seraph, so I can't enter any pacts," I say, reciting what Zaveid's telling me. "We're in a temporary pact at the moment until they recover. Sorry..."

"I've never heard of a temporary pact," Lailah says, confusion on her face. "I suppose this means you're temporarily acting as a vessel to the injured seraph?"

"Yeah...?" I nod despite the unease in my voice.

"That's strange. Why would a seraph need a temporary vessel?" Mikleo says to himself.

"Guys! Guys! Don't get too worked up over this. She'll be fine," Sorey says. Alisha nods.

"I am glad we can rely on your assistance, Lady...?" Alisha trails off. I realise we haven't even introduced ourselves.

"Melanie. But just call me Mel," I offer. "I'm no royalty or nothing. Just a common city girl! ...Who can see seraphim."

 _"And has a very handsome seraph,"_ Zaveid says. I can hear the obvious grin in his voice. Man, if only he wasn't residing in me-!

"Melanie. It will be an honour to work with you and Sorey," Alisha says with a smile.

"It'll be a great partnership," I respond. But I know what happens. Sorey's vision will start giving out, and Alisha will leave the group to allow the strain to vanish. With all this knowledge, knowing how our path would play out, I knew of what end would come. As long as I stopped Sorey from killing Heldalf too soon, we'd be safe.

"Oh! This is Lailah and Mikleo. Since, uh... You probably can't see hellions, just habg back if we encounter any, alright?" Sorey looks concerned. I shrug almost exactly like Zaveid, having unconsciously picked it up from him.

"If you wish, your Shepherdness," I say, before covering my mouth. Zaveid is positively howling with laughter. "Shit! Sorry! That slipped out!"

"Oh dear..." Lailah looks mortified at my choice of language.

But Sorey's laughing. "'Your Shepherdness', huh? That's a new one!"

"Guess it is..." I glance away. Damn this stupid wind seraph...

* * *

The bridge was out, which I already knew. Sorey and Alisha talked to the people while I hung back near the entrance to the Rayfalke Spiritcrest. Zaveid took this opportunity to materialize beside me.

"Can't get to Marlind like this. Why'd you choose there, anyway?"

"I know where he's going. That girl, Alisha... She won't be around much longer. The strain of having her as his Squire will cause the sight in his right eye to start going out," I say, shaking my head.

"Just exactly how much do you know?" Zaveid inquires. I shrug.

"Enough to know you look dumb with a hat on," I say. Zaveid sighs, chuckling a bit and putting an arm around my shoulders. "What?"

"Nothin'. Just lucky to have a cute babe who can see into the future as my vessel," Zaveid says, winking. I groan, ducking out ftom under his arm. He vanishes to rest within me again, and just in time. Sorey walks up a few minutes later.

"We're going to the Spiritcrest to find an earth seraph!" Sorey looks so excited. "Wanna come, Mel?"

I stare at him. The other Sorey called me Melanie. This one... called me Mel. Slowly, but surely, I nod.

"Sure. I don't see why not."

Sorey looks like a kid on Christmas when I agree, and all four of us start walking up the mountain. Lailah and Mikleo had opted to stay outside of Sorey for now to keep him company, which I thought was a nice gesture. The walk takes us a good fifteen, seeing as Sorey didn't want to rush. What awaited us up there was a troll hellion. Zaveid sighed, knowing what was coming next.

 _"Be careful. This is where I met Sorey, Mickey-boy and Lailah. If you're gonna quell it, best do it quick."_

I nod, and the four of us prepare for battle. Mikleo teams up with Sorey while I team up with Lailah. We start to fight, hitting it with everything we have. Sorey armatizes with Mikleo, using the sacred bow to fire off arrows of water. I hit it as hard as I can with my fists, and Lailah tries to purify it with fire.

We're all too weak to beat it. But we keep at it. Suddenly, as we're preparing for another attack, a voice reaches us.

"Hah. Man oh man, what a bunch of amateurs." I turn at that, as do the others. A shirtless seraph with long silver hair whose pants ride way too low on his hips-

Zaveid.

He walks towards us, taking out Siegfried, firing a bullet to his head. The wind picks up, and I recognize the pattern. The first encounter. "Can't take the heat, huh? Looks like Zaveid here is gonna have to show you first-timers how it's done!"

He runs by us, calling forth his Mystic Arte, Outlaw Barrage. The troll hellion is down in an instant. I look away, knowing what was coming next. Lailah shouts, but it's done. Zaveid fires Siegfried and the bullet kills the hellion in an instant. I'd never get used to that.

"He... he killed it!"

"You bastard!"

"Hey, it was a hellion. And hellions belong in hell." I turn at that, remembering the first time I faced Zaveid.

 _"Stop it! You're killing them!"_

 _"They were hellions. And hellions belong in hell."_

"He had a family and friends. People he needed to go home to... How could you?!" I yell, charging forward and trying to punch him. Zaveid's quick, grabbing my fist mid-throw and shoving me back. I fall hard onto the ground. "Killing hellions means killing people! Humans! Don't you have any remorse?!"

 _"Mel, take it easy! Don't get worked up!"_

"Melanie!" Lailah's voice carries over to me. I stand up, shaking my head. I can feel the urge to armatize, but I refuse to allow it.

"Looked to me like you were getting your asses kicked back there. Besides, death is a kind of salvation... for some." Zaveid is looking at us, expression unreadable. I back up until I'm near Sorey.

"Armatize with Mikleo," I mutter to him. Sorey glances at me.

"We don't need to-"

"Zaveid is strong. He gets anywhere near you, the world can kiss you goodbye."

"A-Alright! Luzov Rulay!" Sorey armatizes with Mikleo, and I partner with Lailah again. We fight, and fight hard. Water and Fire versus Wind. Zaveid was a difficult opponent to fight, and he made that known. He could dodge our attacks with ease, and I got the brunt of his Outlaw Barrage Mystic Arte while protecting Sorey, which reopened the wounds on my leg.

But we kept fighting until he stopped it.

"Whoa, hold up! I'm sorry! I'm sorry, alright?" Zaveid backed off.

"You okay, Mel?" Sorey asked, helping me back up to my feet. I nod, not wanting to bring concern.

"You attacked us!" Mikleo said, outraged.

"I said I'm sorry. Sheesh. I'm not your enemy," Zaveid said, shrugging. "Let's call a truce. Deal?"

"Deal. Done deal. We shouldn't be fighting anyway... Guess I let my temper get the better of me," I say, muttering the last part.

"See? Someone here has their head on straight." Zaveid strode over to me, putting an arm on my shoulder. "We're all on the same team, anyhow."

"Are we?" Lailah asks. "Even though Melanie is right that we shouldn't fight, I doubt that we really are on the same team."

"Ouch! Man, you sure know how to wound a guy, Lailah," Zaveid removed his arm from my shoulder, and I rubbed it. This Zaveid was not my type. "We _are_ on the same team, but I don't plan on becoming anyone's Sub Lord."

He started to walk off after that, but Lailah stepped forward. "Zaveid!"

"All right, all right already. I'll leave you alone, your Shepherdness." That made Sorey laugh, despite this being serious. Zaveid did a double-take. "What? Find that funny?"

"Mel called me that nearly a half hour ago! It's still funny!" Sorey says. "But my name's Sorey."

"Sorey! It was an accident! You had a princess with you!" I groan, covering my face.

"It's still funny!" Sorey says.

"Man, you have a weird sense of humour. Well, I got better things to do. Don't forget to run if you see a dragon," Zaveid says, walking off.

"Is it true that a dragon lives here?" Sorey asks.

"You got eyes, don't you, Sorey? Why don't ya try usin' 'em?" Zaveid replies as he walks away. We watch him leave, and I sigh once he's out of sight. Sorey buries the human, and I lean against the pillar.

"I'll catch up, Sorey. I just need a bit to recover," I tell him. Sorey looks worried, but nods.

"Alright. We'll try not to leave you too far behind," he says. Lailah and Mikleo glance at me before they leave with Sorey, possibly trying to piece things together. Once they were a good distance away, Zaveid materialized with a flash of light.

"You shouldn't of defended Sorey like that. Your leg's bleeding," he says with a sigh, crouching down. "Damn. Thought that week healed it fully. At this rate, unless I use a healing arte, it's gonna scar."

I rub my forehead. "Zaveid, I'm a lot sturdier than Sorey right now. It barely hurt. Then again, nothing really hurts much..."

Zaveid stands. "Don't lie, Mel. I could feel the pain. Damn, I'm sorry. You should've armatized with me."

"In that exhibitionist outfit from last time? Thanks, but no. And it'd cause confusion as to why..." I trail off. Zaveid gets it, placing a hand on my cheek. "I'm sorry, Zaveid. I just want to be strong for them. They'll need it for the trials to come..."

"Don't overdo it, alright?"

I place my hand on his, leaning into his touch. "I won't."

Zaveid leans in, kissing me on the lips just briefly before he uses a healing arte on my leg. The pain is gone in an instant, but I have to clean up the blood so no one gets worried. I set to work doing that as Zaveid stretches a bit before making his way back to me and holding out his hand.

I take it without hesitation, and he vanishes to reside within me again. As I'm about to start heading for Sorey, a girl with a parasol lands on the ground beside me. I look over to see that it's Edna, and her eyes are on the grave. She looks at me before nodding to it.

"Did you do that?"

* * *

 **And thus begins the adventure of the misfits, take two! Starting from Ladylake this time. Yep, poor Mel got perved on, but thankfully Zaveid stopped her from attempting to break the guy's arm.**

 **Seeing as this is more canon than the last part, Lailah knows naught of temporary pacts. Also, it's hard to write two Zaveids. I might call the one not with Mel 'Fanservice Sephiroth'... Might. It's just really hard to differenate them.**

 **Edna appears! What shall we do? God, I love Edna. So snarky and teasing...**

 ** _Larazusa:_** **Here's the next chapter! Sorry for the oddness of it.**

 ** _Chapter may be revised/updated without prior notice._**


	7. Hurdles and Malevolence

**A/N: No, I didn't abandon this fic. I've just struggled with writing it. After talking to a friend, I finally got the means to continue! I'll also try tying up some plotholes I've left as this fic goes on. Just not immediately.**

* * *

I watch Edna closely, not replying to her question straight away. Had they already met Eizen, then? I look to the mountain, and wonder if my plan to save him would be able to come to fruition. There was enough of Eizen left, but... Would it be enough to sever the malevolence safely and return him to his seraph form? There'd been no talk of a dragon on the mountain, as far as I recalled, so I wondered if his dragon form wasn't actually complete.

"I asked you a question. Did you or did you not make that grave?" Edna's voice cut through my thoughts and I looked back to her. To answer her question, I shook my head.

"No. I didn't. The person who did was-"

I'm cut off by the sound of footsteps. Hurried footsteps. Sorey, Lailah and Mikleo arrive, and I point to Sorey.

"He made the grave."

Of course, once I directed her attention to Sorey, the world went back to its script. Talking about finding a way to turn Eizen back to normal, even if it was impossible. But nothing was impossible. It was all because Sorey had never looked! So I step in as the conversation almost ends with Edna asking Sorey to promise her, waving a hand.

"We all know fully formed dragons can't be purified, but... here's the thing. What if Edna's brother isn't actually a fully formed dragon yet? What if there's a piece of him left that could be saved?" I ask, rubbing the back of my neck.

"That's a nice theory, but it's impossible." Lailah shakes her head. "No dragon can be saved."

"Humour me, Lailah. Just for a minute. I had a dream like this once. Kind of... future-seeing and all," I lie. Zaveid had said I could see into the future, but I only knew of what was in the game. Why not use those words to my advantage? "Did Edna's brother, the dragon, chase you at all?"

"No, but-"

"See! There you go! He's still in there somewhere! We just gotta... find the means to get him out!" I nod, as if that's the best answer. I hear Zaveid groan. "Sure, killing's one way... but if we save him, Edna can see her brother again, right? As a seraph and not a big, scaly dragon."

"Well, when you put it that way, there doesn't seem to be any harm in it..." Lailah says. "But if there isn't a way..."

"I promise, Edna, I'll find a way to save your brother and change him back." That left me with two options. Siegfried, or breaking the pact with Zaveid to purify Eizen much like Sorey purifies Maotelus at the end of Zestiria. "And I don't break my promises."

"I'll hold you to that." Edna walked over to Lailah. "If you wanted me to come with so bad, you should've dragged me kicking and screaming."

And thus, they pacted. It wasn't like how the game did it. Instead of it being just a recital, the area around us seemed to catch fire. Lailah started to recite the words of the Sub Lord pact, and the flames grow higher with each line. I'm in complete awe at the scene. So much more beautiful than in the game. The flames turn blue when Lailah tells Edna to recite aloud her true name.

Hepsind Yulind. Early Bloom Edna.

The blue flames disperse as Edna becomes a small orb of light and enters Sorey, jumping out of him a second later. I see Sorey shiver. So he wasn't used to being a vessel?

"That still feels weird," Sorey says. "I don't think I'll get used to it."

"We should head back. You've got a bridge to rebuild," I say. Sorey nods, and we head back down to the hillside. As we head down, the sun sets in the distance and the stars appear in the sky. Something jumps ahead of us, landing right in front of Sorey. The boss of the Scattered Bones.

Rose. Not that Sorey would know it's her.

"You... They called you their boss. I am the Shepherd, you have to believe me!" Sorey said.

"Real or fake, it doesn't matter a bit!" Rose drew her daggers, preparing to fight us.

 _"Mel, hurry up and armatize with me! We can give Sorey time to escape!"_ Zaveid said as Sorey engaged in combat with Rose.

"But-"

 _"Don't argue with me right now!"_

"Okay." Zaveid's power rushed through me, and I felt a bit chilly upon silently armatizing with him. As Rose went to deal a somewhat fatal blow to Sorey, I used Zaveid's Wind Rush to get in front of them, blocking the attack with the buckle of Zaveid's belt bracelet.

"Sorey! Get going! You have a bridge to repair!" I say, kicking Rose away from me. "I'll make sure this assassin doesn't get you!"

"What...? But Mel-!"

"Go! I'll explain everything later, just get going!"

Sorey runs past, and Rose goes to follow when I gey in front of her and stop her process by bodily tackling her to the ground. I hold her there until Sorey's footsteps receded to where I couldn't hear them any more.

I must've gotten stronger, since I was able to hold a trained assassin down long enough for her target to escape. That, or Zaveid was loaning me his strength. Either way...

I let go of her, and she kicks me off of her onto the ground. I groan, getting back up and preparing to fight her.

But she passes out without any explanation, worrying me despite the fact I knew why she was. As I went to go see if she was okay, Dezel appeared out of nowhere with Wind Rush. He walked over to Rose and disappeared with her, which left me alone with Zaveid.

I sigh, and the armatization vanishes. Zaveid appears beside me, folding his arms against his chest.

"We have to catch up to Sorey." Zaveid says, walking over to me and putting a hand on my shoulder. "Let's go."

"Yeah..."

* * *

By the time we get there, Sorey punches the ground. The foundation for the bridge is laid thanks to Edna, but many people start to think that Sorey's some type of monster. I hear their whispers, and shudder. Sorey accepts the job to transport the medicine and I catch up to him and Alisha.

We cross the bridge, aiming for Marlind, but as soon as we step foot in there... The pressure returns. My ears plug up, and I collapse to the ground. I can hear Zaveid yelling, calling my name, but it feels like my body's paralyzed. As Sorey goes to pick me up, I cough and throw up malevolence.

I feel sick.

Left with no other choice, Sorey has Lailah attempt to purify me as he deals with a couple hellions in the town. But nothing works. As I fade out, the world turning black, I feel warm.

But when I wake, I'm in pain. I'm in the sanctuary with the others who have the plague from the malevolence, and I feel like crying. All I can manage is a weak groan. My head is lifted, and a cup of liquid is put to my lips. The glove on the person's hand tells me it's Zaveid. Taking care of me. I drink the contents, and he sets the cup aside once it's empty.

I glance up to his face, seeing the worry in his eyes. It's obvious he can't reside in me while I'm in this state, but his hand shakes slightly as he wipes the sweat from my face and I'm left wondering why.

"Zaveid..." I cough.

"Don't talk. Save your strength, Mel..." Zaveid murmurs, laying me down and pulling the thin blanket over me. "I'm not going to leave, I promise."

I fall asleep, waking at random intervals in pain. It feels like I have walking pneumonia again, and I start to freak out when I wake up once. I don't want to die, not like this!

Zaveid's surprisingly patient with me, holding me as I sob incoherently, calling for my mom. I cry myself back to sleep, and Zaveid's warmth comforts me.

"Mel... Come on, drink this." Zaveid's voice breaks through, and I open one eye. I feel like death, and I probably stink like it too. He's holding me up, and I take the cup with shaking hands, drinking the contents. It's medicine. Medicine to cure the plague.

Its effects don't set in right away, but I feel a lot better after drinking it. The feeling of malevolence is lifting, with Sorey doing all he can to purify Marlind. I stare at the ceiling until the malevolence vanishes and I can move properly again. Zaveid takes up residence within me, and I get up to head to the inn.

I stop at a store on the way and pick out a shirt and pants to wear while I wash my current clothes. When we get to the inn, I get a room and opt to bathe before dinner. I choose the Mabo Curry Bun while Zaveid goes for the Pork and Potatoes, even though I have to order it for him.

Though, at the bath, we have a problem.

"Ouuuut." I try shoving him out, but he doesn't budge. He has a sly grin on his face, and it's basically telling me that he's not leaving. But I continue attempting to shove him out of the room, despite the fact he won't budge. And Zaveid remains. I huffed, turning away. This was just...

Embarrassing.

* * *

Morning came all too quickly, and so did Alisha's departure. Instead of witnessing it up close, I hang back and watch as she leaves them. To return to helping the people, and to get captured to force Sorey into the war. That wasn't right, using someone Sorey cared about as leverage to get what they wanted.

Even in this world, corruption was inescapable. And it made me sick.

I got out of dodge before they could see me, intent on getting to the Tintagel Ruins to where the Sparrowfeathers were. I'd explain things there, hopefully. Or maybe not, if things didn't go as planned. I could rely on Zaveid but... Would that be a bad thing? I didn't know.

Leaving Marlind was easy, as I know the place from the game itself. Though, it leaves me wondering if Sorey and the others had seen me before I ran off like that. This would raise their suspicions.

But Lailah's words echo in my head again, and I stop to lean against the railing near the inn. I honestly miss that one moment where everyone had teased me because of Lailah's fortune telling in Pendrago. I missed it all.

In fact, what I missed the most was the companionship. Those last moments...

I can't stop myself from crying, from missing the small time that I'd spent with them. They were different here, they barely knew me and... And I'm being such a coward. Such a coward that I sicken myself. It's nothing new, but it still hurts to think in that direction.

"Mel..." Sorey's voice is behind me, and I turn to look at him. He looks so much like the other Sorey that it just makes everything harder to see. He was blurry through the tears I was shedding, as were the seraphim. Without thinking, I run up to him and hug him tight, crying on his shoulder.

"Don't leave me again... _Please_..."

* * *

 **Whew! Sorry this one's short. I really struggled because Mel can't handle malevolence like there was in Marlind, so I couldn't really think. Beh. Anyway, I've got that out of the way. It could've been longer but I'm sick of leaving it sitting. Hopefully the next chapter'll be longer.**

 **I had an entirely different chapter written but, realizing it wouldn't work, I scrapped it. Then my friend helped me and... That was great. Anyway, I should get to replying to the reviews.**

 ** _Guest:_** **It's actually pretty complicated on how that 'time reset' happened. I'll clear that up at the end of the fic. And do you want the universe to end? It can't handle Zaveid meeting himself! -I kid. Mel met Sorey, but not this Sorey. As for Symmone, you'll have to wait and see! Take care of yourself, too! Your questions got me thinking, and I liked that. Thanks for that! c:**

 ** _Phoena:_** **Something like that! As for there being a duplicate Mel, there isn't, as she wasn't supposed to exist in Zestiria in the first place. Sorry for the confusion. I hope I'll be able to clear it up so you're not so confused.**

 ** _northwind132:_** **Thanks! Glad you love it! Here's the (short) update!**

 ** _Random reviewer:_** **fdfsdfsd Is it? Holy crispers. Thanks! Here's an update, and more adventures shall come!**

 ** _nyaw2468:_** **I didn't think Mel classified as an OC due to her status as a self insert- but whatever floats your boat. Though, it's not exactly time travel. It'll be cleared up at the end. Sorry about the confusion. Yeah, the pairing is pretty much going in the direction of Mel and Zaveid, though I do plan to add another in later on.**

 ***coughs* Anywho... While I was stumped on this, I started another SI I plan to publish once I get the first chapter done. It's an alternate version, which is 'What if Chapter 5 was the end of Mel's journey in Glenwood?' Feel free to check my profile for it every so often. I hope it'll be good enough to read-**

 ** _Chapter will be revised/updated without prior notice!_**


	8. A Walk with Old Faces

**Sorry this took so long in getting to you guys. Life got hectic and it's hard writing a lot of words on a phone. Thankfully, I have a laptop now so I can get these out as fast as my mind will let me. I've been in kind of a Zestiria slump. As of now, I'll say that I'll be adding in more Berseria stuff since the game is now out in the states. If you don't want to be spoiled, please ignore it. This may end up also meaning that I may have to rewrite a lot of this fic, but I really don't want to. Ugh.  
**

 **Anyway, I own nothing but Mel and Aevar.**

* * *

The sun dips down into the horizon, and I only stare at it from my vantage point on the ground. A campfire crackles merrily, but I pay no attention to it. Instead, I only stare ahead as I wait for night to come so we could move freely again. I knew that we had to go, that we had to keep moving onward... but it was extremely hard to. Especially running on no sleep, like I was. Something soft touches my shoulders and I look back to see Zaveid walking back to the campfire and sitting near it. The green inside of his jacket has me noting that he'd just set it on me for the cold that was inevitably coming to us once night hit. Giving a small sigh as the last rays of sunlight vanished, I stand up, although shakily, and turn to go put out the campfire. But, instead, we stay there for a few hours as it crackles and dies out on its own. Zaveid takes care of the removal, and we start heading off towards Lastonbell. That was the only place I knew that would be safe from them.

I know. Running is cowardly, but I wasn't very fond of Sorey and his comrades now. Not after what happened.

* * *

 _After releasing Sorey, I backed up just a bit and gave a sheepish wave, wiping my eyes. That was pretty weird, wasn't it? But they looked at me strangely, as if having found something out… or because they disliked me for whatever reason. Lailah stepped forward, staring at me with a look in her eyes that said she was disappointed in me._

" _You forced a seraph into a pact, didn't you?" She asked. Wait, what? What was she talking about? Forcing a seraph into a pact? I would never-!_

" _No! I'd never... I'd never force anyone to pact with me!" I said, stepping back. Lailah looked as if she didn't believe me. It was Mikleo who stepped forward, eyes narrowed._

" _You're lying, Melanie. First you say they're injured, then you armatize. What's worse is that you lied about it all!"_

" _ **Damn. Can't they lay off for a minu- Mel? Hey, Mel!"**_

" _I-I said I'd... I'd explain..." My voice shook as I tried to speak. Edna pointed her parasol at me. Backing up, I shook my head. "I-I..."_

" _Then explain," Edna said, opening her parasol and putting it on her shoulder. "Or get lost. We don't have time for liars to corrupt Sorey with malevolence."_

" _I-I… I'm… so sorry…" I turned around, running off. Tears obscured my vision as I headed for the entrance to Marlind._

 _I shouldn't have come._

* * *

Accused of forcing Zaveid into a pact, them assuming I'd corrupt Sorey. I couldn't really take it. I feel the tears come back, and realize that I'm still not over that fact. Wiping my eyes roughly, I look at my left arm and the bracelet that I couldn't seem to take off for some reason. Giving a small sigh, I look over to Zaveid, who's been oddly quiet this entire time. It was really uncharacteristic of him, but maybe he was only thinking. After all, he wasn't just a loudmouth flirt. But there really was something going on here that I didn't understand at the moment, so I just keep quiet as we walk, feeling the past two days of no sleep catching up with me. I could go for at least a couple more days before my body decided that it wanted me to sleep… but I want to reach Lastonbell before that happens. I don't want to be caught out here, wandering, by Sorey. I'd just be treated to more interrogation and assumptions, and that was something I don't want to go through. Not at this time, not until I can properly explain myself without panicking and letting my problems get to me so badly that I can't function right.

The trip to Lastonbell takes a while. A very long while.

The only sound that I hear is the sound of our footsteps crunching against grass, and the sound of hellions that aren't coming near us. We keep away from them, despite knowing that's what Zaveid does. Kills hellions, gives them salvation through death. Even if I didn't really like it, even if it meant seeing people die in front of me…

I can barely find it in me to care with how sleepy I am.

Seraphim don't need sleep. They don't need to eat, either, but Zaveid does it anyway. But he hasn't done it for some time, knowing he doesn't need to. And I know this, too. Sighing, I continue to walk and stumble forward a bit, only to be caught by Zaveid and helped back upright. It's a partnership I've come to enjoy these past few… what is it… months? Weeks? It feels like only yesterday that I first started travelling with him to avoid Sorey and what Heldalf wanted me to do. But it's probably been longer than that. I didn't know, honestly, and I didn't care to find out. It didn't matter, anyway. By now, I was probably presumed dead in my own world and… I suppose people are celebrating my death now that I'm no longer plaguing their world.

The thought, though, sends fresh tears to my eyes and I wipe them away again. Pulling the jacket tight around me, I keep walking as silence reigns around us. The dead of night is scary to walk in, especially without anything to rely on but the moon, but I don't let that stop me. Even if there are hellions about, I know we can take them if we're ambushed. But our patience pays off as Lastonbell comes into sight come morning. Zaveid immediately takes up residence within me, and I go to wait in line like before. But this time, I don't say much. I just keep the jacket held tightly around me, waiting for my turn to go into Lastonbell.

The line is slow, very much so, and I just keep to myself as I wait. More footsteps arrive, and I just do my best to ignore them. People want into Lastonbell and this checkpoint was because of the war that was going to happen, wasn't it? I didn't really like it, but it was inevitable. Everything was, honestly. But at least I could find solace here, in the one place I knew would accept me. It was like a home, and I hoped that Aevar was here, that we could become friends again like we were before. But was it too much to ask for?

" _Seems like Sheps is here. Think you can handle this?"_ Zaveid asks as I feel someone staring at me. I give a small glance back to see Sorey, who opens his mouth to speak… but I look away again, not wanting to cause a scene. _"Don't worry about it, Mel. We can get through this without him."_

"I hope so," I murmur. Keeping myself away from them was the best I could do. Once the soldier calls for the next person, I walk ahead without looking back at them. I stop when I see Sergei, fishing in my bag for my identification and holding it out wordlessly. He lets me enter without a fight, and I head off towards the area where I'd known Aevar to be at… well, would've been at. I didn't know if he was here or not, but…

Stopping in my tracks as I see the familiar black hair, I can't stop myself from running up and hugging him. He was alive, safe and sound! Aevar blinks a couple times before laughing, and I feel him hug me back. "Hey, Melanie. Nice to see you again."

Even if this world didn't know me, he did. And I was really grateful for that.

* * *

The familiar smell of Drago Stew fills the air as we walk into the inn. It turned out that here, Aevar was just passing through on his way to Pendrago for business. Though what, I didn't know. The innkeeper gives us a look over, and I gently wrap my arm around his waist and act as if we're dating. It works as we walk up to her desk.

"How much for a room tonight?" Aevar asks, settling his arm around my shoulder. I nuzzle into him, giving him a smile, and he smiles back at me. Just an act to get a room together so we can talk more without having others overhear us. The thought of making him my squire crosses my mind, but I can't purify a thing with Zaveid unless we use Siegfried, which I'm still not happy about using at all. So, I let that thought go and listen as we're given a room for 500 gald. Not a bad deal. Aevar forks over the gald needed and we put in an order for food… which, for me, just consists of something light.

As we head towards our room, I hear a voice.

"Melanie!"

I look behind me to see Lailah. She still looks disapproving, and I notice Aevar had looked back as well. I shake my head, deigning not to say anything, and keep walking with Aevar to our room. Once inside, I go to my bed and lay down face first, groaning loudly.

"…That seraph didn't look too pleased to see you," Aevar points out. I sigh, giving a small shrug. "Did you do something?"

"…..Technically, no. Unless you count me and Zaveid as a team, in which she thinks I forced him into the pact… Which also reminds me." I turn around and sit up, looking at him. "How… are you alive, Aevar?"

He looks at me, then shrugs himself. "Dunno. I just woke up here after blacking out. Guessing… I got killed while we were in the cave?"

I nod. Silence takes over us for a bit and we don't say much else. There's really nothing else to say, which does suck but… we have to agree that it's better than anything else. Comfortable silence with someone you trust is something I seem to be fond of, as I just lean against Aevar. A flash of light notifies me of Zaveid's presence seconds before he appears and sits on the bed. Aevar doesn't seem phased, and sits on the other bed. Instead of leaning against him again, I sit down next to Zaveid and then flop backwards onto my bed. The whole façade of a relationship with Aevar was kind of tiring. I feel Zaveid's hand on my forehead before his lips, and it seems like he's testing my forehead for fever since he pulls away a few seconds later. I only mumble something, not certain what I mumble, before the world slowly fades to black as I fall asleep on the bed.

When I wake, it's warm and I'm under the blankets. My feet are bare, and the bag I usually carry isn't on me any more. I'm lying on my side, head resting against something warm and comfortable. It takes me a few moments to register Zaveid's skin under my head, and his body up against mine in a position most commonly used for cuddling. He's a lot taller than me, and I can feel his muscles under his skin if I shift just a bit to get my arm out and trace along his pectoral muscles.

For a moment, I feel like Gou Matsuoka, fangirling over a man's muscles. But I shake myself out of it, closing my eyes and letting the sound of Zaveid's breathing and soft snoring lull me back to sleep. When I wake the second time, Zaveid is no longer asleep but he's still there. Upon feeling me move, he merely smooths my hair out with a hand, akin to petting my hair. It's down, and I'm certain it looks a complete mess. But I say nothing about it. Instead, I snuggle him and bury my face into his muscular chest.

Aevar laughs.

"Guess you're really serious. Neither of you would move when you were sleeping, and I think Mel copped a feel." With that, I sit upright with a little difficulty, head feeling weird from sleeping so much, and grab my pillow before throwing it at him. Aevar dodges and it plops onto the floor. Picking it up, he tossed it back at me and I caught it, setting it behind me again. Zaveid laughs sleepily, sitting up and getting out of the bed. I find my hair tie and shove it in my bag for now, before looking to both Aevar and Zaveid.

"Since I'm going to be fighting a lot more, I need a different hair tie. The one I have, I really like and don't want it destroyed. Any ideas?" I ask, giving a small smile.

Within a few hours, we procure a new hair tie for my hair, which Aevar crafted himself and put in my hair. Funnily enough, the dummy puts two feathers, dyed blue, on it before he puts it in my hair. Now I feel like I'm in the water armatus with this hair tie, but I'm not complaining. I just look it over in the mirror. Sturdy _and_ wouldn't break, or so Aevar said when he was putting it in my hair. I don't understand why he felt like I needed it to match with Zaveid, but let it go. There were more things to worry about than just why Aevar was matching me up with Zaveid, like the Lord of Calamity. If I remembered correctly, the first Lord of Calamity appeared a thousand years ago to get revenge against a Shepherd. At least, that's what Aevar told me when I was staying with him that week before I left to Pendrago.

Which probably meant we had to head there soon. And then to the trial again so I could get the power from said trial this time. Which would mean I'd have to fight the Dullahan with Zaveid, on my own. It seemed a bit difficult for me to do, but I know that I could hold out a long time now. Battles seemed to get easier as days went by, especially the longer I wore the bracelet. I suppose it was because it was Eizen's bracelet before it fell to my possession that it was doing this, but I don't understand exactly _why_ it would help me fight better. Which also reminded me that I still needed to train with Aevar.

That day was the day we left Lastonbell for Pendrago, staying only a day due to how tired I'd been. Knowing Sorey and the others, they'd moved on by now, so all we had to do was head to the Wind Trial before them. I had no other seraphim, so the other trials were useless to me. Would I be able to do anything I hoped to do without the assistance of the other three required elements? Was a Shepherd able to complete a task against the Lord of Calamity without all four elements with him, her or them? I didn't know. I truly didn't know if having one less seraph or three less would help.

But the thought's pushed aside as soon as we start on the way to Pendrago. I remember the rain, and shiver slightly. Zaveid, wary as he was, returned to residing within me and I just allowed him to. If we were going to meet Sorey and the others at the trial, then we shouldn't be seen travelling together like we used to. Especially with the other Zaveid around. As we head along the Meadow of Triumph towards the Pearloats Pasture, the rain slowly starts to fall the closer we get to our destination. It's a light drizzle when I stop, noting that there aren't any hellions but weary people heading in different directions. A sure sign Sorey's been through here. Which meant that, if we wanted to beat Sorey to the Westronbolt Gorge, we'd have to skip Pendrago entirely and head there directly. Which also meant sleeping in the rain. Gross.

I wish we had some tents or something to camp in.

Sighing as the rain becomes a downpour, something I'm slightly used to thanks to having been in Pendrago before. Aevar seems uncomfortable, and I don't blame him. The last time it rained like this, he'd died. I still didn't understand how he'd returned to us, alive and well. Yet again, the thought of turning him into my Squire passes through, but I shelve it. I didn't know if I could give him a true name, seeing as I didn't know the Ancient Language. All I knew was stuff I found on the internet or from Zestiria itself, and that gave me little comfort as I knew that nothing was going to be the same now. Far from home, far from my own _world_ and yet…

I didn't mind this change at all. It was better than the life I'd been leading.

Aevar stopped me, holding out his hand. In his hand was my glasses. I looked from him to said glasses and took them gingerly before putting them in my bag. With a word of thanks, he just smiled and we continued onwards.

For now, it would be just us against the world.

* * *

 **Now onto the review replies that have been sitting for months without replies. I'm so sorry, everyone.**

 _ **AeryChild:**_ **You know nothing. :3 Ahahaha, I kid. It may happen later than expected, though.**

 _ **Phoena:**_ **You're welcome. You probably don't read this any more/stopped looking for updates but I'm replying anyway. Yes, it certainly is without Melanie's interference. (I sort of understand, I've been hopping around because rewriting Zestiria in a fic is not on my to-do list, so I kind of know the ending but I also don't… if that makes sense?) The reaction is, hopefully, the one that makes the most sense. If not, I'm sorry.**

 **Anyhow, that's about it. I'll see if I can get a chapter out sometime next week. I'm also thinking of rewriting some of this and posting the fic on Ao3, but I don't know if I will. I'm still debating over it since, as I know, self inserts are pretty much hated and… yeah. But we'll see.**


	9. Pain and Suffering

**Hi. I don't know how to write. Also I've been dealing with someone unfavourable but… hey, I'm back. This chapter is an introduction to the next seraph and what we should be doing instead of ruining the game's plot xD;; But we ruined it anyway.**

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The walk was mostly quiet, save for our footsteps as we headed towards the city of Pendrago and the downpour continued. The work of Cardinal Forton. Sighing heavily as we trekked through the Pearloats Pasture to Aevar's destination, I knew that there's really nothing we can do _this_ time. Last time I'd been here… I'd assisted Zaveid in killing the Cardinal. That had been a turning point for Sorey, and I'd royally screwed it up last time. I knew we needed to skip past Pendrago, but Aevar did have some business to attend to there. So we trudged through, heading to the city real quick.

" _Looks like we might need to take care of the Cardinal again."_ Zaveid sighs, before sneezing. I just shake my head and continued forward. We couldn't. If we did, we'd screw up the process of things here. We'd head to Gododdin instead after Aevar was done with the business. Walking along wasn't too difficult. The path was memorized in my head, and yet I took the way that my feet lead me. The path I'd gone was straight for the Crucible in the game, and then after beating it, I went to Pendrago… That was right. How could I have forgotten? Sighing deeply, we head towards Pendrago as quickly as our feet would take us, hoping that what we had to do wouldn't come to pass again. Aevar's business there was only to drop off a package at the inn before we left. As we did, it was then that Sorey and the others arrived.

So we'd just made it before they had. How odd was that….

I bristle, ready for a fight, while Sorey puts his hands up in a gesture of surrender. Staring, I watched as his seraphim appear. Lailah puts her hands in front of her, clasping them near the hem of her dress. It was her that walked towards me.

"Melanie, about what happened in Marlind..."

"Save it, Lailah. I know how you all think of me. Nothing but a liar who wants to bring the _gentle shepherd_ , Sorey, down," I snap back before she can continue. "Listen, I said I'd explain everything later. As in later, when it's safest to say and I could've actually helped you guys."

Lailah recoils a little, but looked away. My gaze is drawn from her to Dezel. Zaveid can hardly suppress his surprise at seeing him, and I hear a small noise come from him. Somehow, and I don't know how, he had actually reeled himself in and didn't make a comment. Sorey walks over to me and I step away as soon as he went to put his hand on my shoulder. Certainly, we'd acted as friends before but now I knew how they thought of me.

Nothing was going to change that. I wasn't taking their charity now that they were actually thinking. Maybe that was a bit irrational of me, but I didn't even care at that point. From what happened in Marlind, I wasn't going to be so forgiving so easily. I'd had so many things happen to me because I forgave so easily, so much hurt and pain… I wasn't going to let that happen again.

"Melanie..." Sorey looks like a kicked puppy. I look away from him. "We came to apologize."

"Save it. I'm not forgiving you that easily. None of you. It just happened a couple days ago, so of course I'm still mad about it. Maybe when you grow up, I'll accept it."

Harsh. Aevar looks at me strangely and then sighed.

"Sorry about her. She's just trying to deal with some things at the moment." He gives a small bow, in which Sorey return. "We're on our way to deliver something to a lady in Gododdin, so we'll be seeing you soon, Shepherd."

He take my wrist and lead me out of the area. After that, we have to head to the Biroclef Ridge. On our way we'd see another Crucible but I know I could do nothing about them. It was only Sorey and the others, not another Shepherd that shouldn't even exist in the world and a Zaveid from the destroyed Glenwood…. I don't have the power of purification, anyway. Heading that way was the only thing that we could do at this point, so we went back to the Meadow of Triumph.

"So, where to from here?" Aevar asks once the rain let up and we weren't being drenched by it. I gesture to the leaning tower in the distance.

"The Biroclef Ridge is to the south." _Exit to South Ridge_ was what popped into my head, and I faintly remember that I had to take another route but… without Sergei's assistance, we'd have to do what we could to get there. I hoped that Zaveid's Wind Rush ability would help us get by the obstacles. When I remember Aevar needed to be my Squire to do so, I stop in my tracks.

"Zaveid, he needs to be my Squire. I don't know the ancient language..." I mutter to Zaveid. Within an instant, he appeared by my side, folding his arms against his chest.

"Don't worry about it. He seems pretty dedicated to his tasks. How about Hihogelih Eiben? It translates to 'Aevar the Dedicated'," Zaveid offers. I glance at him and ran it over in my head. Hihogelih Eiben…? That would make sense. Though… I wonder if it was true for him. Would Zaveid know how to make the Squire's pact? Probably not.. So that means I'd have to walk him through it. I really, really don't feel up to that, though. Honestly, we're not the 'official' type of Prime Lord and Shepherd. I can't purify anything and Zaveid sure the hell didn't take an oath for the power of purification. This left us at a standstill. Either walk him through it or hope to hell Wind Rush could extend to Aevar.

There was the little matter of having Sub Lords, though. I turn back the way we came, just to look into the distance. If I focus hard enough, I can see the Rayfalke Spiritcrest from where I stand. That mountain was tall, and was a point where Seraphim of the Earth had been born a long time ago… It was Eizen's domain now, so that meant…

"Aren't you gonna make him your Squire?"

Zaveid's voice jolted me out of my thoughts, and I have to look at him for a moment before sighing. Right. Squireship. Squire… stuff. Squiredom.. Okay, I really need to stop thinking about that in a Kronk-like manner. Shaking my head, I swallow a bit putting my hands on my hips and keeping my gaze on him.

"Do you know how to make the Squire pact?" I ask.

"Uh.."

"Guess that's a no, then. I'd have to walk you through but it's… hard to remember from when I was the other Sorey's squire for a time..." I sigh and walk forward. "When we get to actually be around them without having to tip-toe around, I'll ask Lailah about it. She's been a Prime Lord longest. I just remember the Sub Lord pact."

"And how the hell do you know that?" Zaveid asked, quirking a brow. I shake my head, looking away.

"We saw Lailah and Edna's pact, right? We just have to fix it for each sub lord. There's water, earth and fire we need to get." I tick off each element on my fingers. We needed the Sub Lords if we were going to help Sorey in his fight against Heldalf. But… if anything, we'd have to figure out how to save our Earth Seraph. I still remembered the fight against Zaveid, and my leg throbs in pain a little. I wince, looking at it. Saving Eizen… was a sort of pipe dream. But if I could find a way, if we could just figure out how…

"When you two lovebirds are done chatting, can we get going? If we keep standing around, that shepherd and his seraphim are going to find us!" Aevar said. I nodded, heading forward. Goddodin was where we were supposed to go… but I couldn't help but wonder if we should attempt-

No, it's too soon. Eizen would have to wait. We'd have to get to him before this world's Zaveid joins Sorey. Everyone did that sidequest for Edna's second mystic arte but it wasn't worth the pain and suffering. If I had three other seraphim, I could possibly do it.. But then.. I needed to make sure we had enough bullets left in the off chance…

No, no. We weren't killing him.

We weren't. No one believed there was a chance to saving Eizen. But there was something left of him in there. AI or not, it was a shot in the dark, and a shot I was going to take. This was my decision, and thus I needed to do it correctly or suffer the consequences of telling Edna her brother was dead. And I hate breaking promises. Giving a small sigh to myself as we walk on, a blast of fire and a yell was what diverted us to a battle.

A young man, with long black hair tipped in pink and wearing travelling clothes, was fighting a hellion and was injured. The hellion was advancing, and there really wasn't much I could do. Not without armatization, and I didn't want to immediately fall into that. It was a crutch I didn't need. I just had to fight. Looking to both Zaveid and Aevar, I just give a nod and gesture towards the hellion. We could beat it back, we could. Just give the seraph enough time to escape and we, too, could get the hell out. It was probably the fact I was too used to just fighting now that I was the… second to leap into action. Zaveid, obviously, was the first. Fighting hellions was his thing, so he was always ready. So it seemed, anyway. I had to wonder briefly, while dancing about on the battlefield throwing punches and dishing out kicks like no one's business, if this was really supposed to be 'normal' for me. Probably not.

"Mel-!" Was all I got as a warning before something hit my side and I was smacked into a cliff. Suddenly disoriented, I felt pain all in my left side. Breathing in hurt but.. my arm didn't hurt at all. Clamping a hand over where my ribs were only caused me more pain. Busted. Damn it. Struggling to get up while dealing with the pain of busted ribs, I refused to cry out in pain despite the fact it hurt so badly. It'd derail from the fight.

I'd be fine.

Rushing back into the battle, not giving a thought to how badly it'd affect me if I fought in this condition, I fought with everything I had. Having to dodge hurt, having to breathe hurt, moving my left arm hurt because it was attached to the left side of my body, everything hurt. But I had to work through it. I heard Zaveid yell, and then I felt extreme pain. It was then I cried out as I hit the ground again, shoved aside, and grasped my left side. Pain. Nothing but pain. Through tear-blurred eyes, I could see the man warding off the hellion with flames.

 _A fire seraph… how lucky._

That was my last thought before everything went black.

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 **Yeah I know, been gone since January. Been… well, not motivated to write this, honestly. It's pretty personal reasons why, but I was dealing with someone not-so-savoury for months until just a couple days ago. So that's why this update is so late. I apologize about this, and how crappy it is right now.**

 **I'll set this as a semi-filler chapter. Sorry for not answering reviews, either. I haven't had much of a good day.**


	10. Igraine

**I figure everyone's given up on this fic, seeing as how it took me so long to update it. But eh, I've got nothing else to write so here's another chapter.**

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Waking up was disorienting. I didn't remember ever being in something soft, with warmth surrounding me. I remember being hit by the hellion, but that was it. That was all I remembered, and it really worried me. Sitting up, I felt my torso hurting and a hand pushed me back down. I wince as I lay back, and stare at the person who pushed me back down. Concern and worry was over Zaveid's face as he removed his hand from my shoulder.

"Shouldn't get up so quickly. You're not finished healing yet. Kain had to go get supplies to finish fixing your ribs."

"I'm fine. It's just a dull ache." I argue back, but Zaveid doesn't give me any leeway. I try to get up, he has me lay back down. I'm not used to laying in bed. Not anymore, anyway, and so I'm constantly trying to get back up. It's a cycle that doesn't exactly stop until Aevar comes into the room with the seraph from before. The two of them are carrying supplies, and Aevar deposits his on a chair carefully while the seraph sits next to me and puts his into a bag before putting his hands over me. A warmth filled my body, and the ache from my ribs slowly faded. I wondered how long I'd been out.

"It's weird to have people staring as a floating bundle of supplies… floats by." Aevar said, starting to sort through his supplies. "But he insisted. Shame you didn't come, Zaveid, I think there might've been a hellion or two around."

"Someone had to keep an eye on Mel," Zaveid shrugs, sitting down in the chair next to the bed. The seraph removed his hands and gestured for me to sit up, which I did. It was a really dull ache now, not as painful as before. Was seraphic healing this easy? They did bring Alisha back from near-death, after all. It was really strange, after all, and all I could really do was thank the seraph for his assistance. He waved it off like it was nothing and, as we went to leave after a bit, he followed.

"Um, I appreciate what you did but…"

"Please, Shepherd, make me your Sub Lord!" The seraph grabbed my hand. "I-I need to find her, I need to find Kiki!"

"Uh… help?" I look back at Zaveid and Aevar. "What's going on? I've been out for who-knows-how-long, I'm hungry and I'm being asked to make a seraph a Sub Lord. Zaveid, you're old enough, don't you know how to-"

"I haven't been a Prime Lord for as long as Lailah. Think I can think of somethin', though." Walking over to the seraph, he removed his hands from mine and put a hand on my shoulder briefly before letting it slide off. Witnessing it when Zaveid made the pact instead of Lailah was different. There were no flames. It was more like in-game, but that must've been because Zaveid didn't have the power of purification. When the pact was complete, the seraph disappeared for a moment before reappearing.

"My name is Kain. I thank you, Shepherd."

"I'm not exactly the Shepherd…." I turned to Kain, and tilted my head. "Why do you need the Shepherd, anyway?"

"Because Kiki's become a hellion, and I want to find her and save her."

I look to Zaveid, who looks back at me. Aevar walks over and puts a hand on my shoulder. It was then that I learned what they already knew. Why Kain had been fighting that hellion before we intervened. He was trying to purify it without the power of purification, to see if it was Kiki. Zaveid had killed it, using one of the bullets. I had wished I'd been awake then. We were one bullet down from saving Eizen. One bullet down. Even though it'd been a knee-jerk reaction in Zaveid's case, we were still one bullet down and that actually made the future for saving Eizen very bleak. I had to do it, I had to keep my promise to Edna. If I went back on my word, what good was I?

"So.. We're down one. Looks like we'll have to compensate for that by finding more Seraphim. And if we're going to help Sorey at the end, when he's fighting Heldalf..." I turn away from them, walking forward. "We'll have to undergo the trials. The first one is of fire, in Gododdin. So, that's another thing to add on our list." As well as saving Eizen, getting the power of the Shepherd and helping Sorey when the time came. It also came down to Mayvin, and if he was willing to help. If we could come across him sooner, we could probably secure his help for a later date. That was all we could do until we teamed up with Sorey later on down the road. For now, though, we had to do with what we had.

"Funnily enough, now that you mention it, we're _in_ Gododdin right now." Zaveid pointed out. I blinked, before looking at the structures. We'd come out of the inn, so… damn, that'd mean we'd made it here while I was _unconscious_. I wonder how that feat had happened. But at least we were a bit ahead of Sorey and the others. If I could only get permission to undertake the trial of fire… Maybe if I tried helping out a bit around here, the leader would let me take the trial. Hopefully. Or else I'd have to sneak in and do it at night when no one was around. That… wasn't exactly shepherd-ly of me to think, but I wasn't a Shepherd. I had to get that power, too. If I was to help, I _had_ to.

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A week passed while we were in Gododdin. A week that I spent with the citizens helping out and showing that they could trust me. The leader had malevolence, as was expected, circulating on his back. But it didn't seem to be doing anything to him. I remembered the fake elixirs and shivered a little as I watched Kain and Aevar debate over the practicality of Kain's weapon, which was basically wind-embued coins. They were slightly like pendulums, except it was a small, thin wire on the coins instead of whip-like rope. Which was, honestly, awesome in my opinion but Kain saw it as more of a natural thing. How he got wind-embued coins, I have no idea but… hey, it was pretty cool how he used them in battle. We were basically the people who shooed off hellions if they got too close to town, so I got to see his battle style a lot. If I had to term his style, I'd say it was a bit like Baofu's. Except he pulled the coins back before they inevitably got lost during the battle. Which, in fact, we did a lot of. Battling, that is. And the hellions seemed content to attack whenever they pleased, which put a strain on us. At one point, Zaveid even got a bit pissed off and killed one of the hellions without using Siegfried. We weren't any closer to taking the trial, but I was slowly getting in Slenge's good graces by helping out, even if it was just helping with the making of the fake elixir and the townspeople. Soon, I could probably ask about the fire trial. If Sorey didn't beat me to it, that is. I don't exactly know how long it would take him to get to Gododdin, but in-game it took a bit due to having to go around because I didn't have Edna's map ability. I didn't have a seraph of the earth, so I couldn't use Giant's Strength to get in the back way… but that'd ruin the trust that the people had in me.

What it came down to, in the end, was how long it'd take to get permission to undertake the trial of fire. I had, of course, bought a sword in preparation for the trial but never used it. It was just sitting there on my bed whenever I went out on patrol. Which I did often, seeing as I traded off with Aevar. It was hard to get used to at first, but it came as second nature once we got used to it. My partner during these times was Kain, as Aevar had explained it would probably get suspicious if Zaveid was with me at all times with the _other_ Zaveid roaming about. He was right, too, as not too long into the second week we were at Gododdin…

Well, this world's Zaveid ended up here. He was a bit battered up but otherwise he didn't even look half bad.

"So, Sheps ditched you?" That was the first words out of his mouth after I had dragged him into Gododdin to get patched up. I roll my eyes and probably didn't put the bandage on carefully as he yelps in pain. Sighing, I loosen the bandage up a bit and cut it off, pressing the end of the bandage onto the rest. "Hey, it was just a question!"

"More like his seraphim decided to be jerks," I respond with a murmur, knowing he can pick it up with the wind. "I was incapacitated the entire time we were in Marlind. I keep one thing from them for their own safety and they blow up on me. Sheesh."

"Sounds like it was rough." Testing to see if the bandages hold, Zaveid flops back onto the bed. I panicked a little. What if Aevar came back from patrol early? Kain could tell my distress and appeared beside me, before leaving the room. Watching him go, I hear the bed creak and look over to see a very interested Zaveid looking at me. "So, you're a shepherd too, huh?"

"Conditional. Just a vessel so they don't get corrupted by malevolence. Since my body can't handle it, I'm pretty much the only option they have. After all, Sorey can't have two seraphim of the same element..." Or maybe he could. Who knew? I sure didn't.

"You do know the trial of fire's here, right?"

"Yes."

"Then why would a 'conditional' shepherd be here?" Damn, he was good. Sighing, I walked to the window and opened it, leaning on the sill. "Seems to me like you're trying to cover your tracks so no one thinks twice about what you're doing. It's not my job to lecture someone on things like that, but you might want to be a bit truthful."

"If I'm fully truthful right now, everything could be torn apart. I have to wait until Sorey's ready. I may be doing things of my own volition, but in the end… him knowing there's another Shepherd out and about might make him slack off a little in his job." Sighing, I look over to him. "I intend on being truthful when the time's right. Not a moment before."

"So, when will Sheps be ready to hear it, then?"

"In Pendrago. When he loses someone close to him. That's all I'm saying about it." Looking back out the window, I wait for a moment. The bed creaks and a glance tells me Zaveid's laid down again… and was out like a light, according to the way his chest rose and fell. Hoping Kain had delivered the message, I stand straight and turn to head out when a voice catches me.

"Don't worry about me saying anything to Sorey. I know when to keep my mouth shut."

* * *

Later that same day, I reconvene with Kain, Zaveid and Aevar outside, and we basically talked about tonight's strategy. Instead of swapping out with Kain for a period of rest, Zaveid would be doing patrol with me as well. I have the patrol to the early morning, so I'd be resting until I was woken up. As we finally finished and Aevar headed off on patrol with Zaveid as Kain returned to residing within me, Sorey and Rose arrive here in Gododdin. I'd hoped to have the fire trial completed before they did, but…

"Melanie! Hey, are you alright?" As he headed towards me, Lailah, Mikleo, Edna and Dezel appeared. Rose was confused and walked up to Sorey once he stopped in front of me.

"Sorey, who is she?" Rose asks, confusion clear on her face.

"Oh, this is Melanie. I travelled with her for a bit until she left us at Marlind… like Alisha did. Though they were a bit apart time-wise," Sorey responded. I nod in confirmation. Not wanting to get another look from Lailah like I did at the inn that one time, I quickly excuse myself after an introductions and a bit of chat with Rose. Heading into the inn, I head to the room that we had rented until we finished the trial. This world's Zaveid was out like a light, and was curled up on his side, so all I did was sit in one of the chairs and doze off for a bit.

And woke to a pain in my chest like hot fire. Wincing, I grasp at my chest as I opened my eyes. So much for not being hurt. I guess not laying down was the worst thing to do. My ribs were still mending, so I had to be careful. Not that I'd been too careful, but the battles that I'd fought with hellions here weren't so bad that I needed to be cautious and careful about how I fought. It was like second nature, fighting and defending myself. Even Aevar is impressed. He said that I'm getting a lot better at fighting. There were days that I still trained with him, and Zaveid and Kain usually joined in so we had a pretty good training session each day we did have time to train.

The odd thing was that Edna was crouching in front of me. "She's awake now."

"Did you really have to poke her? It looked like it hurt..." Rose comments.

"I barely tapped her," was Edna's response. I look around and notice that the sleeping Zaveid was gone. Had he left while I was dozing? Probably did, as to not look suspicious taking a nap in a bed. After all, he never really went near human civilizations, right…? Besides when he went to Pendrago that one time.. which would happen later on in the future. The looks on everyone's faces looked a bit… different than I expected.

"Careful where you jab your umbrella. Some of us might have broken bones," I scold, rubbing where the pain was as if trying to get it to go away. "Or broken ribs."

"Oh dear!" Lailah looked upset. "Edna, be more careful!"

"It's not my fault she decided to get her ribs broken. And I didn't even know before." Edna opens her parasol, putting it over her shoulder as she stands up and turns away. "...Sorry."

That last part was a mutter that, if I hadn't been listening to her, I would've missed entirely. Sighing, I just wave my hand and set it back down.

"You don't have to pretend it doesn't hurt," Mikleo says.

"I don't get it. Why are you guys being so nice to me?" I ask, sitting upright, wincing as I did so. "I thought you all… y'know, hated me."

"It was a misunderstanding..." Lailah bowed her head. "When you left so suddenly, it seemed what we said had really hurt you. And we wanted to apologize, though… you didn't seem to give us that chance back in Pendrago."

"And there's a lot she's not telling you, right?" Dezel asked. He was leaning against the wall as usual, arms folded against his chest. At this point, I figured that they didn't know that Dezel was blind. I wasn't going to ruin that plot point.

"I have a lot of reasons for not saying the full story. There's a lot of things I need to do before I'm comfortable enough to tell any of you." I sigh, adjusting myself so that I didn't hurt that much. A warmth cascaded over me, and I looked over to see Lailah healing me. The pain soon turned into a dull ache like it had been for these past days. I smile in appreciation, but it turns forlorn as I remember the reason that I needed to keep everything a secret… as long as possible. Including the fact that I knew how it all would end- with Sorey killing Heldalf. "I'm not asking you to trust me. Just to wait. I know this contradicts with what I've said before, but I just need you to wait… I'll find you guys when I'm ready."

"Does this mean you're leaving?" Edna asks, turning back to face me. I shake my head.

"I still have something to do here. Aevar and I have been keeping this place safe from hellions, but there's malevolence. Not enough to incapacitate me, but I can feel it. I think this place needs a seraph to watch over it and purify it… return the blessing, so to speak." I shrug. That would buy me some time to do the trial while they're out and about getting the seraph back.

"Right. So we just need to restore the blessing. Will… you still be here when we return?" Sorey looks like a lost puppy when he looks at me, and I can't help but sigh. Damn my tender heart.

"Maybe. We'll see."

* * *

Waving goodbye as Sorey and the others leave to head out to find the seraph, I wait until they're well out of sight before I go to talk to Slenge after I pick up the sword from the inn. It's not too hard to find him, as he's either making the fake elixir or at his house resting. It's dangerous to make the elixir, I knew that, and yet I was helping him when I wasn't off doing other things. I did wonder why I wasn't succumbing to the effects of it.. then again, I wasn't from this world, so my body probably wasn't affected like it should be.

"Chief Slenge? It's me, Melanie. I wanted to ask something," I say as I enter the room he's in after knocking.

"Yes? What's the question, Melanie?" Slenge turns to me, having been looking out the window. I shut the door behind me and sigh. "Is something troubling you?"

"More or less. Um, see… I kind of… wanted to ask if you knew of the trial. That the… shepherd undertakes?"

"The trial of Igraine?" He looks bemused. "Melanie, are you insinuating that you're the Shepherd everyone's talking about?"

"He and I are… well, I don't think we could call each other friends right now. But we know each other. I'm a sort of… pseudo-shepherd? I mean, I have a Prime Lord and everything… just not as good as he is. If I was, then..."

"I understand. Follow me."

I blink, curious, and follow Slenge to the cave where we'd made the fake elixirs to where the trial of fire was… in the back. He'd lead me here on his own, and all I had to do was ask? How strange. "Now, since you're not a full shepherd, I don't expect you to complete it. So don't feel bad about leaving if it's too much."

"Right. And don't forget to send the other Shepherd here when it's time to."

"Of course not." With that, Slenge left. Aevar came walking up a few minutes after he left, with Zaveid right beside him. Kain appeared beside me, and the four of us opened the doors and stepped inside. Inside of the trial was hot as hell. They could make a hot spring by this place and become a tourist attraction, but they wouldn't want that. Either way, it was hot and I didn't like it. Zaveid didn't seem to like it much, either. Well, no one but Kain seemed to like the heat at all. It'd take me some time to actually figure this place out again, but I moved forward immediately with them trailing behind. We had barely any time to waste if Sorey was going to take the trial, too. It would have to be as fast as we could possibly make it.

"Roman numerals." I point out when we reach two stands. One was I and the other was II. "Kain, can you light them? Stand at the number when you do or else it'll automatically go out."

"Of course." Kain flicked his wrist and the first stand lit up. He did the same with the second stand, and the door opened. Once it did, we headed through it immediately. Finding the stands was our priority, even if it meant we went around in circles a few times. The center room was the one we had to fill with lava and transport to the end of the trial. At one point, we got extremely lost and had to retrace our steps until we made it to where we had meant to go.

It must've been hours since we first set foot in the place, now that I thought about it. All we'd done was fight hellions, run around, light stands in the proper order and try to get the lava flowing so we could finish the trial and get out before Sorey found us. This was so I didn't have to do them all and make Sorey wait for me. I wondered if I beat the trial, would Sorey have to go through the fight at the end or would they test him a different way? I had no way of knowing, and I didn't feel like finding out at all. I just wanted to get this done and out of the way, which was probably what I shouldn't have gone in thinking. As we wandered about, trying to finish the trial, it just seemed like we were going around in circles until Kain stopped and turned to his left before going in that direction instead, which prompted us to follow. I had to wonder, while we were doing all this wandering, how Zaveid had made Kain a sub lord. Was there some pact things I didn't know about that he did? Was he once a Prime Lord himself a long time ago? I seriously just keep coming up with questions that I don't have the answer to, and it's frustrating enough that, when we reach a stand, I end up _kicking_ it before Kain lights it. And when he lit it, he had the most confused look on his face.

"You doin' alright?" Zaveid asks as we head for the center, having finally gotten the lava pouring and activating the center dias. "You seem a bit out of sorts."

"It's hot and my brain's fried."

"I hear ya. We'll be done soon." There was a wistful tone to his voice, like he was hoping the same thing. Hopefully everything would get done soon. Once we made it to the upper level, we headed through the door to the shrine of Musiphe, the Great Lord of Fire and one of the Five Lords. Kain stopped at the stone slab near the door.

"Place your hands at the four monument so that Musiphe's purifying power can be given. Seems like this is an easy-" Kain cut off as we heard a roar, and the domain of the hellion came crashing down… and me with it. Choking on the malevolence, I glance up to see a Salamander. So this was the hellion that Sorey and the others were supposed to fight. It jumped down from the shrine in the wall and onto the center. Kain, Aevar and Zaveid prepared to fight while I struggled to get to my feet. The monuments were key.

"G-guys… th-the domain… t-the.. monuments.. b-break it that way..." Here was where my resonance with the seraphim should've been cut off, but I could still perceive them. Aevar glanced back before nodding, and the Salamander went to attack me before a coin bounced off its head and returned to its owner. Kain and Zaveid played as decoys as Aevar ran, touching the monuments until the domain lifted and I was able to stand and join in the fight. The Salamander was tough and casted Pyrogenic Ring a lot, but in the end… well, with the four of us, we took it down.

"Alright. Time to send this hellion to hell." Zaveid starts to step forward when I grab his arm.

"He's not a hellion, you dummy." I release his arm. "I think this is the protector seraph of the Lord of Fire, Musiphe."

"You'd be correct." The not-hellion said. "The form you see before you is but a facade. I am Ekseo, the protector seraph of fire."

"The hellion thing was an act?" Kain looked confused. "You really had us. Was it for the trial?"

"Yes. I needed to verify that you were worthy of receiving the blessing." It sounded like he'd recited this many, many times. "And you've passed the trial of strength. I shall grant you the power of Musiphe, deity of fire amongst the Five Lords. Lift up your sword."

Giving a small nod, I unsheathe the sword I'd brought carefully and lift it up as asked. Soon, the sword was surrounded by flames. This trial… was one where I had to burn someone… I didn't know if I could go through with it. As Ekseo said, the flames would carve the Binding Brand.

"It is very simple. Choose either you or your fire seraph and, with these flames, char their face."

Looking at the sword, I lower it and grip it with both hands. Char Kain's face… or my own. I have to choose. Swallowing, I close my eyes and thought. I'm Sorey, yet I hate thinking of hurting someone else just to complete a trial. I would rather carry the burn on my face for eternity than even think of hurting Kain. With that in mind, I slowly bring the sword towards my face, feeling the heat grow ever closer. It was when the sword stopped that I open my eyes. Kain was in front of me, hands keeping the sword from getting any closer. I can smell the scent of burning flesh. It was overwhelming, and I cough.

"Kain, why-"

"You dumb idiot! I don't think he meant actually char your damn face!" Kain scolds.

"That's exactly what I-"

"Quiet!" Kain shot at Ekseo, who went quiet. "You could've chosen me. Why didn't you?"

"...I hate the notion of hurting people just to pass a trial. It feels like I'm betraying them. I don't like hurting people. I don't like upsetting people. It's just who I am, Kain," I respond, lowering my head. "If it means failing the trial, by all means, I'd raise the sword against myself. Because if I hurt you, what kind of person would I be?"

"A dummy."

Lowering the sword once Kain let go, he shook his hands and turned to face Ekseo. I could feel a new power brewing in my chest… or maybe that was an air bubble. Either way, Kain stepped back to my side.

"My true name is-"

" _ **Sasei Rue!**_ "

Armatizing with Kain was easy enough. In my hands were chakrams instead of the normal sword. How strange this was… Gripping the chakrams, I flung one towards Ekseo, re-initiating our fight. Fighting him with the Fire Armatization felt like hell, but Kain seemed to be having fun. At the end of the fight, after running about and getting whacked around some, Kain and I decided to try out this new power. Gripping the chakrams tight, I rushed in and, guided by Kain, did one downward slash, an upwards slash, two circular spinning slashes and two downwards slashes before a backflip, landing on my feet a few meters away.

"Dance beautifully and burn away! _**Crimson Conquest!**_ " The two of us yelled together as the chakrams were engulfed in flames and thrown at Ekseo. It seemed he vanished afterwards and Kain and I de-armatized while I breathe a sigh of relief. Armatization still feels funky, but I know I'll get used to it sooner or later. Hopefully sooner.

"That was incredible!" Aevar says. "You two really showed him!"

"Yeah… I guess." I rub the back of my neck. Afterwards, after being treated to a full explanation by Ekseo, we leave the shrine and head back into Gododdin. It's night by the time we get there, and we're all exhausted. Kain and Zaveid decide to take a rest and reside within me while we head back to the inn. When we're there, I take a long bath and clean up before going to bed in just a big shirt and shorts that I'd gotten while I was here. Going to my room, I end up flopping on the bed and curling up, going straight to sleep afterwards.

It was going to be a long day tomorrow.

* * *

 **I didn't want to go fully over the trial of fire because _damn it_ I got so lost during my playthrough that I went around in circles for ages before I finally finished it. At one point I wanted to throw my controller but that might've broken it.. and I don't have the money to replace it currently. But, hey, progress! And this is longer than I usually write. Forgive the walls of text.**

 **Also, for armatization, I decided to go against the norm for weapons seeing as I didn't want to be a complete copycat of Sorey's. Anywho... this is finally done. Finally.**


	11. Hellions and Promises

**Oh, hey. Long time no see. Here's another chapter. Sorry about the lateness of this update. I've gone through a bit of hell and got wrapped up in Final Fantasy 14, but I finally got around to finishing this! It's a bit longer than my usual chapters, but... yeah. Here you go.  
**

* * *

The next morning, we'd found that the village was purified and the blessing was received. Sorey had regaled his tale to us with no exaggeration, and how the seraph had hellionized and was a dirt slug before they had purified her. We listened intently, we being Aevar and I, before we left them on good terms. It seemed better than what it had been by the time we left Gododdin, about an hour after Sorey had entered the trial of fire. There were many tearful goodbyes, and we went on our way. Thinking on it, our next trial should either be Earth or Water. I already knew the story, so I didn't have to waste time wandering about like Sorey from one part of Rolance to the next and then back to Hyland. With no time to waste, we headed out of the area back to the lush green of the Meadow of Triumph… after walking through the cave, that is. Once there, we decided to head out to Lastonbell and plan our next move. The only problem was that Aevar didn't live there any more, so we didn't exactly have a base of operations.

So we stayed at the inn there. In the room Aevar had gotten for us, there was a table. He moves what was on it and sets out a map of Glenwood on it.

"So, we just came from Gododdin." He marks it on the map. "That was where Igraine, the fire trial, was. If we're doing those trials, then we need more seraphim. Earth and Water."

"I know of an earth seraph. Thing is, we'll need to get the water seraph first before we get the earth seraph. Time's getting shorter. If we don't do it before Sorey goes back to Pendrago once he gets the information to go there a third time, my entire plan's sunk." I tap where Aifread's Hunting Grounds is and where the waterfall is at. "Here and here. The first one is Morgause, trial of Earth. Second is Lefay, trial of Water. The last one is all the way in Westronbolt Gorge. That's Guinevere, trial of Wind. But I have a plan that should get us there quickly."

"What's the plan?" Zaveid asks, looking over the map. "Gotta say, you know more than I thought you did. And here I was thinkin' you saw the future."

"I've seen the future and it's more or less either we get this done quick or else someone dies," I respond with a tap at the map. "Rayfalke Spiritcrest. If we get the power of water first and head there, we can try to save Eizen early. There's still something left, I _know_ it. I just have to keep my promise to Edna, unlike a certain Shepherd we all know."

"Wait, hold up, you mean he _promised_ Edna he'd save Eizen?"

"Exactly. And he never even looks for a way. This way, I can do it and there's nothing that'll stop me. I have enough time… hopefully." I give a small sigh and sit in one of the chairs, chin in hand as I think about it. If we did the trial of water in the off-chance we found a water seraph before we got there, then we'd need to get to the Spiritcrest as soon as we finished the trial. "I just need you to not use any more bullets, you dummy."

"I'm sorry, sheesh. That thing was tough as nails. Only way we could stop it," Zaveid sits on one of the beds. "So, we gonna head to Lefay then?"

"Yep. After we stock up on items and other things we need." I stand up. "We've been getting a lot of items from the battles we fought, so we should sell them for some gald. Splitting it up between Aevar and I should work."

"Right."

So, splitting up the items among us, the two of us leave the inn for now and head out into the town, going about selling what we'd gotten in all our fights against hellions and some random things we'd found while we were wandering. Once we'd sold the items, we start stocking up on supplies and I buy some new clothes to wear, as my old ones were getting ruined with the constant fighting. I wonder how the others kept their clothes so immaculate, but keep it to myself in the end. I would sew up my clothes good as new later on. Once at the inn again, we divide the items up between the four of us as Aevar goes and orders us some food. It's late when everything's finished, and so I crawled into bed after changing into that t-shirt and shorts I'd bought in Gododdin.

Sometimes I wondered if this was all a dream. That I'd wake up and be at home again. But, when I feel the warmth of the bed and the covers, I know it's not. I know it's real. After all, I'm stuck here. I have to find a way back home. Changing things might help, but even so… Would it be the right choice? Would I inadvertently cause the destruction of this world, or would I help save it with my knowledge of how things went? Curling up, I feel like the weight of the world's been put on my shoulders. The bed dips slightly and I feel someone put an arm around me. Glancing over, I see it's none other than Zaveid. Comforting, even in this moment. Nothing changes, nothing ever changes. Not with him, but maybe with me. Even now, I wonder if the Lord of Calamity knows that I'm here.

It takes some time for me to drift to sleep, but when I wake up… well, I'm curled up against Zaveid. I forgot how much I changed positions in the night, but this was more than welcome. He's warm, and he's comfortable. I don't mind laying there for a few more moments before I feel him shift. His arm's around me again, and he's pulling me closer. For a moment, my face heats up before I realize there's nothing wrong with this. Maybe a few more minutes of sleep would be good. Closing my eyes, I drift back off to sleep.

But my eyes open and I'm on the Spiritcrest. There's a weight in my hand, which I take a look at. Siegfried's in my hand. And I hear a roar, a deafening roar which has me covering my ears and wincing. I can't hear Zaveid, Aevar or Kain. It's just me, alone on the mountain…

With a dragon. With _Eizen._

My heart pounds in my chest as he lands, giving another roar. Shakily, I raise Siegfried up, both hands going to hold it instead of the one. But my hands are shaking too much and I can't get a good lock on him. If I fire, I'll just waste bullets. I can't do this, I can't save Eizen like this.

As if he knows my hesitation, Eizen roars again, glaring down at me. He rears, and I scream. Covering my head and begging for someone to help me- _anyone_. I can't save him, I can't shoot him, I'm useless, I'm worthless-

And then I wake up with a start.

It must've been only about two minutes since I fell back asleep, since Zaveid hasn't moved an inch, but I feel a comforting hand on my back instead of the embrace I'd fallen asleep in.

"Hey."

I blink blearily before looking up to Zaveid. Worry creases his features. It's really not a good look for him, but it must be because of me. Was I making sounds when I was sleeping? Or had I really screamed when I was trying to avoid the dragon in my dreams? As if reading my mind, Zaveid sighs and kisses the top of my head.

"You worried me there for a second. All that whining and even the scream. Bad dream?"

I nod mutely, not trusting my voice at this moment. He shifts and sits up, and I sit up with him. It's silence for a few more moments before Aevar comes in with Kain. They both look apprehensive as they head towards us. Shutting the door behind him, Aevar plucks a water canteen up from our supplies and tosses it to me without a word. I fumble and nearly drop it, but get my grip on it and unscrew the cap, downing as much as I could without breathing. Which was, in fact, about half of the entire thing. Finally stopping to breathe, I take in sharp breaths as I screw the cap back on and hand it back to Aevar.

"Thanks. I needed that."

"Don't mention it. So, our next course of action is getting a water seraph, right?" Aevar looked at me. How did he know? "After all, Lefay is a water temple, and we only have fire and wind seraphs. I doubt we could even get into the trial without the proper seraph."

I sigh. Right, we _do_ need a water seraph for that. Thinking on it for a moment, I finally come to the conclusion that we should probably search in Lastonbell before heading off to Ladylake. As long as we didn't take the normal route. The backdoor would be fine for us.

"Yeah, so we'll have to find one. Any luck? You guys were out and about pretty early, right?"

"Uh-huh. After I woke up. Kain joined me, but we had barely any luck. There was one that was said to study in the church, though, even though this entire place is still without a seraph's blessing." Aevar walked over to the window. "Huh, looks like there's a crowd. Want to check it out?"

"No, thanks. I've had my social interactions for the day."

"Melanie…."

"What? I'm just kidding." I stand up, stretching. "Let me get changed and then we'll head out."

Grabbing my bag, I head to the bathroom and pull out my new outfit before getting changed. It felt weird, really. Everyone else seemed to wear the same clothes and yet here I was changing in what seemed like five times the entire time I've been here. At least inconsistency matched me… I think. Either way, once I was changed, I headed back to the room as I buckled my belt up and made sure everything, even the bracelet, was in place.

"So, time to investigate and find ourselves a water seraph!" I say, punching my fist into my hand. The three of them agreed, with Zaveid and Kain vanishing into tiny balls of light and going to reside within me. It was kind of hard to deal with it at first, but now it felt like second nature. I didn't envy Sorey either. He had to deal with this all the time. And so did I.

Aevar and I pack up and headed out of the inn, towards the now-scattered group that was muttering about false gods or something like that. We look to each other before heading towards the church. I remember Sergei and Sorey's fight here, and hope that the priest doesn't think that we're going to be bad for his church. Or something like that. Going into the church, we note that there's not many people here. Maybe one or two praying to Maotelus, but no one of note. Except for a pale-haired woman walking along the pews, going unnoticed. Grey eyes scan them, until she notices us. She pauses in her step, before frowning.

"You can see me."

"Maybe?" I shrug. "Outside?"

"I don't leave these halls. People need someone. The seraph of this town ran away, and the people need me to keep them from falling to despair." The seraph said, turning away from us. "Please leave and don't come back."

"So she's the acting guardian seraph?" Aevar asked once we were outside. I sighed and nodded. It seemed that her blessing was only in the church, though, and didn't extend outward to the town itself. Which was odd. If she was acting guardian seraph, wouldn't her blessing extend further? Or was it just a joke? Either way, she'd seemed serious. And when someone was serious like that, it was best to leave them be before repercussions happened. Something bad. Aevar folds his arms against his chest, looking back at the church doors. If her hair was any indication, she was a water seraph and the one we needed to take the trial of Lefay. But how would we wrangle this? Would Sorey go after Heldalf again as soon as he got all four trials? If so, we barely had any time to waste. We'd have to find the guardian seraph and get them to come back.

"If only we could restore Lastonbell's blessing, maybe then she'd come with us." I look to Aevar, whose gaze is still on the doors. It's weird to even consider this, but desperate times meant desperate measures. We'd have to get a water seraph somehow, and get them to travel with us. And this mean that this water seraph would be the only one. Not a lot of water seraphim, now that I think about it, so this was our only chance.

"Wasn't the seraph in the Cambria Caverns?" Aevar asked. "I remember hearing about the seraph who used to be the guardian here until she ran off there. It was when I was passing through a few weeks ago."

A few weeks ago? Then, that would mean sometime after I woke up here to before we met.. he'd been here. I couldn't keep track of the days here as well as I could back home, so I didn't know how long it'd been since I'd first woke up in this version of Glenwood… where everything was the same as it was in the game itself. I could tell things were the same, but I also knew that I'd be changing things for the better. Keeping a promise that Sorey couldn't. Even if it's impossible, I have to try.

As we head for the gates, we feel the malevolence start to lift until it's cleansed completely. The blessing… restored? Both Aevar and I look to each other before heading back to the church, running across Sorey and company. They were talking to the seraph from the church. She has a look of confusion on her face as she talks to them, but they leave not too long after. Aevar and I stay out of sight long enough that we don't draw their attention, which I'm grateful for. We head towards the seraph, who's about to head back into the church until she hears our footsteps.

"Back again so soon?"

"We… um..." I nudge Aevar, who winces a little before stepping forward. He sighs a bit before starting to speak to the seraph. I tune them out so I don't feel like I'm eavesdropping, instead focusing on other things. Like how we'd get through Lefay if Sorey was to get there first. If we met Maltran before Sorey did, then… things might get screwed up. In the end, though, after being brought back to the present with a shake from Aevar, the seraph made up her mind to travel with us, to stop whatever was happening. Apparently Aevar's really good with persuasion. Nonetheless, we get a pact going and head out towards Hyland through the caves that rest in the forest Tintagel Ruins was located at. As we headed there, I was left to wonder if we'd make it first. We needed the trial for my plan. Even if we met Maltran, we…

We had to do this. Get the trials done so we could keep a promise Sorey couldn't. So _I_ could keep that promise.

It was a straight path to Lefay once we'd returned to Hyland, though we had to stop for the night and continue on in the morning. At the pace we were going, knowing Sorey was going to go to Ladylake for information first so he can figure out where Lefay was, we'd be in and out before he got there. Through the waterfall to the temple beyond, we're greeted by the seraph, Altul, and given our trial. To quell Asura. Would this mean Sorey wouldn't be able to, or was ours just a test for him? Either way, we head into the trial. Remembering the cloak and the eyes on the walls, Aevar and I do our best to avoid them. Sadly, without the Squire's Pact, Aevar keeps getting sent back to the start and I keep having to backtrack.

Finally, fed up, I clear my throat and held out my hand.

"We're going to get nowhere with this. You're a trusted friend, so let's just get this over with." I say as Zaveid materializes between the two of us and takes our hands. I have to walk him through the pact, which makes things a little weird, but it doesn't bother us once Aevar's my squire. But without the power of purification, we were no more than hellion killers. Heading into the trial yet again, we're able to navigate through it with some help from Cammile, the water seraph from Lastonbell, before coming upon Asura. The task, as said by Altul earlier, being to figure out why Asura became a hellion in the first place. We'd come across it while going through the temple. Asura was so distressed that he wanted a sword that would get rid of all the malevolence.

I can't help but wonder if he was misguided in the end.

Though the fight is long and hard, we're unable to fully quell him and instead knock him through a loop and unconscious. Zaveid nearly finishes the job when I grab his wrist and shake my head, silently reminding him of what was agreed upon before. He puts Siegfried away and we head back down to the beginning.

Though Altul isn't very pleased with how things turned out, having wanted us to purify Asura, he nonetheless says we've passed the trial. Though the second part comes up. Altul offers us a malevolent sword, which looks tempting but, knowing that it'll only cause us pain in the end, we refuse to take it.

And that's when Maltran appears.

"To think I'd find _you_ instead of the Shepherd, being offered this weapon," she spats, taking the sword from Altul. "No matter. You can't stop me. Not without your precious 'power of purification' that the Shepherd has." And Maltran gives me a wicked smirk. I already know how it's going to end. Maltran, impaled with Alisha's spear as Alisha breaks down. I grit my teeth thinking of it. If Maltran's going to die, then it'll be by her own hand.

Alisha won't have that luxury.

"So, come after me, if you want. By the time you find me, things'll have fallen into place and the Lord of Calamity will turn this world into how it's supposed to be!"

With that, Maltran leaves. Sorey and company aren't going to meet her. I screwed it up. Now Sorey won't know. I hear a roar, and look up. Altul shakes his head.

"The blessing of Amenoch is yours, Shepherd," he tells me. "Though without the power of purification, it won't do anything. I suggest your Prime Lord take that oath soon. The Shepherd, Sorey, is already fighting Asura for the same blessing."

"Tell him that someone'll be waiting outside for him when he's ready," I tell Altul before I head out of the temple with Aevar by my side. Only about fifteen feet away from the doors, I stop and lean against one of the cavern walls. Aevar looks at me before shrugging and sitting on the floor. I fold my arms against my chest, thinking. Sorey'll find out sooner or later that Maltran was working for the Lord of Calamity, but I was going to tell him myself. It was a long wait, about two hours or so, but the doors to Lefay reopened and Sorey came out with Rose trailing after him.

"I'm tellin' ya, that was really messed up! For his own seraph to take his weapon..."

"And keep Asura from murdering more people," I speak up, moving to step in front of them. "Which is the weapon he offered me before it was stolen."

"What?!" Both Sorey and Rose look taken back by that statement. The seraphim appeared in their usual places with Sorey, all looking apprehensive.

"What are you talking about?" Lailah asks

"When I completed the trial, Altul offered me the weapon and then the Blue Valkyrie, Lady Maltran, stole it. She intends to continue the war between Rolance and Hyland. And her pawn'll be Alisha."

"Why are you making a false accusation?" Mikleo asked. "Lady Maltran is someone Alisha trusts! She wants this war ended as much as her!"

"Lady Maltran is a hellion in human flesh." I say, and everyone falls silent. "She works for Heldalf. She took Asura's sword, which Altul took from Asura, and told me she intends to use Alisha to stir up trouble between the two countries."

And then I take a breath, reciting the words she'd said in the game.

" _We were meant for each other. My blade and I shall cleave the world. Were we to erase this corrupted, chaotic world with all the humans in it, would that not rid us of malevolence once and for all? That is the elegant, clean logic of my master, the Lord of Calamity._ "

They stare at me, before Edna puts her umbrella on her shoulder and taps it there.

"Have to say she's got a point. There's something off about Maltran," Edna says after a minute. "But then again, I wouldn't have expected Sorey to get it."

"He truly is always looking for the good in people." Lailah says. I shrug.

"Well, as fascinating as that is, that's really all I wanted to say. You can tell Alisha or not. It's your choice, Sorey, seeing as she's your friend." I raise a hand in farewell before leaving with Aevar. We head back towards Rolance, knowing that the next trial we'd need to undertake is the trial of wind. Stopping at Lastonbell to restock supplies, we'd head to the Pearloats Pastures early tomorrow morning. That was the general consensus. And then we'd head onward towards Guinevere, the Wind Shrine.

Though I had to wonder… if I was accidentally screwing things up, would I meet this world's Zaveid instead of Sorey? Thinking on it, I didn't want that to happen. Instead, I would be the one Sorey caught. That sounded better. And then I could help him in the battle! ….Well, okay, maybe not. I was still a bit irritated with Sorey's group, to be fair, and I didn't exactly want to spend extended time in his company. But it'd be weird if I didn't.

The last Zaveid battle was near Pendrago. I just had to get to Rayfalke first and do what I needed to.

Save Eizen.

That night, while we were staying in Lastonbell, I headed out to get some fresh air while everyone else was sleeping. Taking a stroll through the quiet streets, I had to wonder how much longer we had until Heldalf was beaten. Would I be able to go home? Or would I be stuck here for the rest of my life? I didn't want to think about it.

"So, we meet again, huh?"

I pause and look behind me. It's Zaveid. Not the one I've come to know, but the one that was native to this world. Giving a nod to his question, I turn to face him. The last time I'd seen him was in Goddodin, when he was injured and I'd helped him. It looked like he'd recovered well since then.

"Looks like it. You know, I didn't think you'd actually go anywhere near human civilizations, being a hellion hunter and all that."

"Didn't think you'd be out here alone. Need some company?" The way his voice dropped when he said that had me facing away from him and starting to walk away. Flirting with me, during this moment? I had to stop myself from groaning as I walked. "Hey, I was kidding! Sheesh."

"I do need something, though not company." I say, glancing back at him. "Zaveid, will you promise me something?"

"Whoa, hold on there, that's comin' on a little strong, don'tcha think?"

"You're the only one I can trust with this." I look away from him. "When you see Sorey again, can you… keep an eye on him? Stop him if he tries going after Heldalf before… before Dezel dies?"

Zaveid didn't answer for a moment, before I hear him ask-

"Dezel's going to die?"

"If my plan doesn't come to fruition, yes. He'll die. But Sorey might try going after Heldalf before that. I need you to stop him, no matter what. Even if it means fighting him again and again. I know it's stupid to ask, but seeing as you get such a thrill from fighting… I thought it'd be best to ask you." I pause, sighing. "Promise me, Zaveid. Promise me that you'll do whatever it takes to stop him if he tries going after Heldalf before he loses Dezel."

"Alright. I promise. And I don't go back on my promises."

I smile. "That's what I'm counting on. Thank you, Zaveid."


	12. For those we can yet save

**This chapter is longer than the rest due to the fact I shoved three things in one chapter. I'm seriously trying to finish this so I can work on the sequel to it, so I'm sorry it's rushed.**

 **More notes at the end of the chapter.**

* * *

Morning came all too soon. And with it came our departure from Lastonbell. We were heading back to Hyland, to the Rayfalke Spiritcrest, and then we'd head to the last two temples. To get the power of Earth and Wind. If we time it right, we'd get to the Wind temple before Sorey and pull off the most epic grand entrance ever… which would also mean going up to the top of the wind shrine. Thinking about it makes me terrified. I hate heights so, so much. Even climbing on the top of the monkey bars as a teenager with little-to-nothing to do except play with the kids in my neighborhood freaked me out.

So I'm not too happy to actually do anything related to heights if I could see the bottom and how far I was from the ground. Hell, looking out the window of a building really high up freaks me out. But enough rambling about my fear of heights-

"So, we're going to do it."

Zaveid's voice sounds apprehensive as we walk through the forest. I stop for a moment, then shake my head. We _were_ going to _save_ Eizen. Not kill him. It'd take more time and I'd be breaking my promise to Edna. I didn't want to break my promise to someone that would cry if she knew that there was really no way to save Eizen. But there was. There was, and Sorey was stupid for not even trying. I wouldn't give up until I saved him, even if it was to my last breath. Sure, the concept of death also terrifies me, but I can't let it stop me. It'd be some time until Sorey made his way to the wind shrine, thinking on how the Earth trial had to be done before the Wind trial, so I had time. I had _plenty_ of time. Plenty of time to cry, that is, and lament over how the hell I'm supposed to pull off the biggest save of the century. No one can purify a dragon, and yet here I am.

"We're going to _save_ Eizen."

The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them. Having crouched down to think, I stand back up straight and look to the mountains. The looming mountains, where Eizen resides. Where he nests. It's _his_ domain, and we're about to go trespass on it. Without prompting, the seraphim materialize. I hear the telltale sound of Siegfried being loaded and look to Zaveid, who's staring at the gun with determination in his eyes. He puts it back in the back of his pants (which I'm still trying to wrap my head around) and then walks up to me.

"We need anything else before we storm the mountain?" He asks.

I nod. "The power of purification. It's our only chance, Zaveid."

We only have about thirty-eight bullets left. If we waste them, then we'd… have to kill Eizen. I didn't want to. So I know I have to stop Zaveid from wasting them, in the off chance we really, truly needed them. After a few moments of contemplation, Zaveid nods. He leaves, but only for a few hours. We plan, we wait, until he comes back. With him comes a rush of new power. An oath. He seems apprehensive about it, but we all know it's our best bet. Purifying a dragon wasn't easy. Nor had it ever been done before, but we'd be the first ones to do it if things went right.

"It took a bit of time," Zaveid says, gesturing to his chest. "It's gonna be hard, but I think we can get used to the fact that we won't have to kill hellions."

"You took the oath of purification!" Kain says with glee. "That's great! We can save Kiki now!"

"And Eizen," I remind him. Kain puts his hands up in self-defence as I playfully punch his arm. "But now that we have it, we can really try now."

"It's an intricate process, an oath," Cammile says, frowning. "To do it in record time is unheard of. I'm guessing you took the shortcut version."

"Yep. Didn't want to waste too much time. Without the shortcut, it would've taken a month." Zaveid shrugs. "Now are we gonna stand around talkin', or are we gonna do this?!"

Zaveid says that we're being followed.

I don't exactly understand why anyone would follow us up a mountain, to the territory of a dragon, but I have to admire their stupidity. Well, that would make us stupid too, but I digress. Climbing up the mountain is a difficult task. I'm afraid of falling, but Zaveid assures me that he won't let any of us fall. Aevar finds that out when he slips and seemingly bumps into nothing instead of falling. A barrier of wind, protecting us. Zaveid says it's just a bit of his power that he's exerting to keep us safe, but I have to wonder. He never exhibited abilities like that in the game, so was it inaccurate?

I have to think so. It's strange how you get to know more about the world and the game while experiencing it, knowing that it's more or less a watered-down version of events while experiencing it. A retelling of events, if anything, but with more in-between than what you see on the screen. This was what I experience, and I know now that _anything_ is possible. Eizen _could_ be saved.

Zaveid says that we're being followed, and I hope they see our triumph. The first Shepherd that ever purified a dragon. That would be me. History was going to be made, and we'd have witnesses.

And atop the mountain, we wait.

They're a distance away, enough to see but not close enough to get involved. Zaveid says they have an Earth seraph with them. And tells me straight-up it's Sorey that's been following me. I look behind me and smile, giving a thumbs up and hoping Edna sees this. She'll be seeing her brother again soon. And when I hear a roar, and the dragon lands, the first words out of my mouth is Zaveid's true name.

" _ **Fylk Zahdeya!"**_

Aevar calls out Kain's true name, and the two of us armatize. Wind and Fire, while Cammile pulls out a spear and positions herself, ready for battle. Eizen roars again, and he's the one who attacks first. We split off, and Aevar casts a fire-element spell while I start using the well-known Wind Armatization combos from my time playing the game. I felt like a copycat using these moves, but it barely did anything. Cammile jumps high, but misses as her spear drives into the ground when Eizen moves out of the way. Aevar is hit with a Vengeant Fang attack, and doubles over. With quickness, I cast Soul Resonance and heal him once I get close enough, which heals him. Cammile starts using quick combos with her spear, sometimes trying to drive her spear into the flesh behind the scales, but Eizen is quicker than her and moves out of the way. I de-armatize with Zaveid quickly as he pulls out Siegfried and _shoots_ , aiming for Eizen's heart. He misses, but hits Eizen's leg instead. A roar of pain echoes across the mountain, and I call Zaveid back, re-armatizing with him.

Cammile runs forward, skidding to a stop and turning her back to Eizen, only to attempt slamming her spear into his leg. The same leg that Zaveid had shot while trying to aim for his heart. Eizen lifts his leg, intending to crush her, but Aevar's quicker and calls her over with her true name, having de-armatized with Kain to do so. In a flash of light, the water armatization takes form, but it's not the bow we've come to know from the normal

It's a straw. The weapon of Norma Beatty from Tales of Legendia. How odd, but also fitting for a water armatization. But water is weak against earth, and Aevar knows this. After saving Cammile, he breaks the armatization and returns to being armatized with Kain. I'm rushing Eizen as best as I can, throwing attack after attack. Violent Projection, Dragon Blitz, Razor Vortex and then attempting a Divine Tiger Tempest, which misses as Eizen moves out of the way. Aevar is flinging the chakrams at Eizen while Cammile continues trying to stab him with her spear. Once again, I break armatization with Zaveid so he can shoot Eizen again.

Two bullets down, both missed. But both caught a leg, so I know that it's doing _something._ Calling Zaveid back again, we continue the fight. Vermilion Crescent, Scorched Valley, Tower of Blood. Gale Fang, Dragon Blitz, Dark Star. Back and forth, flinging artes and attacks at Eizen, trying to wear him down. Aevar calls Cammile when she's in danger and saves her since she isn't watching for Eizen's attacks (which we find a little concerning) before re-armatizing with Kain. We fight, and we fight.

Eizen doesn't wear down.

I keep track of how many bullets Zaveid's used aiming for Eizen's heart. Four, then six, then ten. One hits its mark, but there's no change. But none of us even get concerned. There's a promise I must fulfil, even if it means going all out. There's nothing more I want than to see Edna smile, to see her with her brother… even if it means sacrificing myself to do so.

Eizen roars, and it echoes across the mountain. Aevar dives out of the way and Cammile jumps back before heading in to do another attack. I ready the Sylphystia Mystic arte when it happens. Cammile's attack hits its mark, and Eizen screams. A dragon screaming is nothing you want to hear. It's like your eardrums are being assaulted and threaten to burst. We're all down and Cammile withdraws her spear with shaky hands. Eizen goes to crush her again, but he falters. I finish readying the mystic arte and call forth the power of wind.

" _ **Come, divine winds! Swarm the skies!"**_

He's trapped within what seems like of wind blades, many of them pinning him down. The wind swirls and surrounds, and we let it burst, feeling the silver flames of purification burst forth as we do so. Eizen roars as it burns him, the entirety of flames surrounding his dragon form. There's still something left, there's _still something left of him. Oh, Maotelus, let us save him…_

" _ **Sylphistia!"**_

The blades burst, sending forth more flames of purification. Eizen's roars grow weak, and his form starts turning smaller. As I reach the ground, the armatization breaks on its own and the flames disperse. Lying on the ground, in ruined clothes and hair messy and unkempt from centuries of being a dragon, is Eizen's seraph form. I collapse to my knees.

 _I'd kept my promise._

"Zaveid, wake him up. The pact. If we leave him without any protection, he'll turn again," I force out, weary from the battle. Zaveid looks at me for a moment, before he walks over and kneels down next to Eizen. With a few shakes, Eizen's roused and he glances up briefly, blinking his eyes. I feel tears start to form in my eyes and hastily wipe them away.

"Welcome back, Eizen."

* * *

Eizen doesn't want to make a pact at first, not that I blame him. While we're trying to convince him, Zaveid tells me that Sorey and the others are still around, but they're not making any moves. In fact, they're at the place where Sorey, Mikleo and Lailah had met Edna. When Edna's name is mentioned, Eizen glares at Zaveid.

"I thought I told you to-"

"Yeah, well, plans change." Zaveid shrugs. "Things change. Edna's not a little kid any more, Eizen. She's the reason I couldn't kill you like I promised. She was protecting you this entire time. But it's because of another promise that I'm here now. And that same promise is why you're standing here on your own two legs."

"I promised Edna I'd bring you back," I say, having finally recovered from the ordeal after a bit of rest. "A long time ago, when we first met, I promised her that I'd bring you back. Because if I hadn't of, a friend of mine would have and… he would've ended up killing you in the end." I look away at that, shaking my head. Edna crying was something no one needed to put up with. She deserved to see her brother again, even after all this time.

"You promised?" Eizen looks a bit wary at that. "So you planned to save me. What if you weren't able to?"

"I'd find a way. And I did. It was a really long battle and you nearly killed one of our seraphim by stepping on her. By the way, Cammile, shadows exist for a reason."

Cammile huffs and looks away. I just chuckle and shake my head. She was still inexperienced in fighting against actual opponents, so it was up to us to help her learn how to fight against them. "I'm just giving you a hard time. Anyway, Eizen, we don't want you turning again. Will you make a pact with us?"

"Why would I make a pact with a Shepherd? Give me one good reason."

I hum for a moment, before tapping my chin. "I don't know… A chance to see your beloved sister without being a dragon and without fear of hurting her?"

Eizen pauses. Zaveid laughs. Aevar and Kain stare for a moment before shrugging and Cammile is… sliding her spear back and forth in the dirt making a line out of sheer boredom. But after a few minutes of contemplating it, Eizen agrees to form a pact if only to see his sister again. He warns us about his Reaper's Curse, and how hard things will be from now on. We all look to each other and _laugh._ If it's anything like we'd dealt with before, we'd be fine. Zaveid starts the pact with no help from me this time. He does it on his own, and Eizen hesitates on saying his true name aloud. But he does.

Ufemew Wexub, a true name I don't know the meaning of.

I can feel the malevolent pressure that comes with Eizen when he resides within me and I retch, throwing up the malevolence. My body's still intolerant, but I find it weird I didn't collapse under the pressure of the malevolent domain Eizen brought with him. When I finish throwing up the malevolence and can breathe easier, Eizen materializes beside me. His clothes are mended, fixed as if the momentary rest within me as I threw up his residue malevolence mended them. But he's barefoot and missing a glove.

Ah, right. Edna had them. So Eizen couldn't get them back.

I don't know how Zaveid carries _anything_ , but he somehow pulls out a new glove and boots for Eizen. They're the same colour as his old ones, but the boots aren't the same style. He stares at them in disdain for a moment before groaning and taking them, putting them on and then staring at me. More specifically, my left arm.

Right. His bracelet. With difficulty, I pull the bracelet off and hand it over. He puts it on his left wrist. I feel weird without the bracelet, but I push it off as nothing. The seraphim go ahead and reside within me once everything's done, and Aevar and I head down the mountain. As we head to where Sorey met Edna, he steps in front of us, a worried look on his face.

"Melanie… did you….?"

"It's alright, Sorey. He's resting right now. After all, being a dragon for who knows how long can be hard." I shrug and smile. Zaveid had said they'd watched, but I have to wonder how much they saw. Did they see Zaveid? Did they see the armatization? I wasn't ready to divulge anything yet, but I wouldn't be able to talk my way around it if they knew.

"You… did it." Edna sounds surprised and shocked. It shows on her face, replacing her usual bored and uninterested look. "You saved my brother…"

I nod, giving a thumbs up. But I feel wobbly and nearly topple over. Zaveid says my name and I put a hand to my head. I'd gotten so used to the bracelet that… was it the thing keeping me from passing out with all the crap I put my body through? Sorey catches me, pushing me back to my feet. I feel weaker and a bit dizzy. Was this the Reaper's Curse at work? I have to be more careful now, lest it consume me.

"I'm okay, I'm just tired. That was a hellish battle. Can… you help me to Marlind? Please?" I ask. For a moment, I think I'm going to be turned down. Hell, I deserve it. But they agree, and I'm assisted by Sorey and Aevar as we head down the mountain and to Marlind. The bridge was rebuilt, and it hadn't taken too long thanks to Sorey building the foundation to help it get rebuilt. But that was at the back of my mind as I find myself settled into bed. My eyes close, and I hear Zaveid's screams of protest and Eizen telling him to calm down.

* * *

I don't know how long I'm asleep, but I wake up feeling even more tired than I'd been before I fell asleep. But I push myself out of bed, going to splash my face with water and go get something to eat. I nearly trip and fall, but I catch myself and slide down the wall instead, unable to get back up. I feel weaker than ever. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I pull myself up. Finally regaining some strength after wobbling around for what feels like forever, I head downstairs to see Sorey and Rose, along with the seraphim.

"You're awake!" Sorey says, relief in his voice. I smile, but as soon as I push off the wall and try to take a step forward, I fall. Crumpling to the ground like I could barely hold myself up. Sorey helped me back up with Rose, and I glanced among them. Everyone was there. I'd done it. I'd fulfilled my promise and brought Eizen back. Giving a thumbs up as best as I could, I find myself being helped to a chair and asked details about what happened, how it happened and I answered as best as I could without giving away Zaveid's involvement. They couldn't know. They'd seen, but they couldn't _know_ what I was doing. Which seraph was the Prime Lord, and which were Sub Lords. I had a difficult time trying to give out a name for Zaveid, so I mostly called him 'The wind seraph who refuses to give me a name.' Dezel gives me a 'look', or what I determined to be one, since I wasn't telling the whole story. He could read the wind, he _knows_ that I wasn't telling the entire truth.

And he calls me out on it.

"We could hear the gunshots where we were at, so start talking!" His hand's at the scruff of my shirt, hauling me up. I stare at him. "Stop lying to us and _talk!_ "

 _He's not making this easy._ I hear Zaveid mutter as I continue to stare at Dezel. _He knows, Mel. He knows what happened. I can see it in his expression._

That was a big help. So, continuing to stare at him, I watch his expression warily before he lets me go. I stumble and fall backwards into a chair, knocking it over. I felt so _weak_ without the bracelet. I don't understand why, either. I was just fine without it before Aevar gave it to me. Staring up at him, I watch as he stares right back at me. Arms folded against his chest.

"Dezel, you don't have to go to extremes! She said she'd talk when she's ready!" Rose reprimanded. A soft 'tch' left Dezel before he turned to look at Rose.

"He's right that we heard the gunshots, though. The only person who could do that is..."

And they all looked at each other.

"Zaveid." All of them, except Dezel and Rose, said in unison. That's when it dawned on them. To them, it would seem like I was working with Zaveid to kill hellions. And that…

Edna falls to her knees, and covers herself with her umbrella. The wail she let out was heartbreaking, and I can feel my heart ache for her. I hear Eizen's displeased sound. But there's no way he can go to her, not while his curse is still in effect. And it hurts, it hurts so much I can feel it. But I force myself to stand up, putting a hand to my head. In my weakened state, I'd just drag everyone down. I had to keep going, though. For everyone's sake.

And for my own.

"Save the jumping to conclusions for later, alright? I said I'd explain later. I'm true to my word." I say, before forcing myself to walk out like there was nothing wrong. I barely make it out of the town before I fall to my knees again, panting and heaving like I'd ran a marathon. Why was my body so weak now? What was going on? I didn't understand, I really didn't. It was like all the strength I had was sapped out of me and now I couldn't get it back no matter how hard I tried. It was terrible, but I wouldn't let it stop me. Picking myself back up, despite my weakened state, I continued forward. Earth Trial, then Wind Trial. And then to try to save Dezel so he could tell Rose everything he did instead of take the cheap way out. The cheap way… which meant death. I wouldn't be preventing Zaveid from joining them, but even if I got him to admit it before he died then…

Then at least I could know that a part of what I want settled would be.

But it was getting harder to move, to breathe. I wonder briefly if this was how I was going to go out. Tired, weak and in another world. Would anyone mourn me? Probably not. They all would move on once I was gone. And I slump to the ground as those thoughts consume me, to the point I wonder if it'd be easier if I did. But, for once, I didn't let them stay as long as usual. There were things I need to do, places I need to go and people's asses to kick. Pulling myself back up, I start struggling my way forward. Earth trial, then Wind trial. That was my goal. Get the power of the other two Empyreans and start on my journey completely. But every step I took was painful, every breath I took felt like it was tearing my lungs apart.

I'm weaker now than I was before we saved Eizen.

I couldn't let them know, but it was already apparent by how Zaveid materializes beside me and helps me stand up straighter, letting me use him as a crutch as I hobble along. It's slow going, but we make it far enough from Marlind that it didn't seem strange at all. We head back towards the Pearloats Pastures, which held the area Aifread's hunting ground was found in. I wonder for a moment if there was any way for me not to look so useless like this. As we continue walking, I feel as if I'm being watched. When we reach the Pearloats Pastures, the feeling grows until I chance a glance behind me.

Shit.

"Stop… I have something to explain… please." I whisper. Zaveid pauses, then he glances back.

The other Zaveid's there, Siegfried drawn. I feel the arm supporting me disappear as my pillar now returns to reside within me. I use what little strength I have to turn to face him. Raising my hands up in a show of surrender, I stagger and fall to my knees, glancing up at him as best as I can. Two Zaveids. He must've thought it was some sort of hellion. My hands remain raised, but my arms are shaking as I try to keep them up.

I feel so weak.

"Let me explain, please." I force my voice out. Why does it feel like my body's shutting down on me? I don't understand. "Zaveid, _please_."

I see concern flicker across his face as he walks towards me. His step is cautious, as if I was a hellion itself, trying to trick him. Siegfried remains drawn, but he crouches down and I feel the warmth of his hand on my head. For some reason, it feels _good._ And I find myself leaning into the touch, to everyone's shock.

 _It started happening when my bracelet was taken from her._ Eizen muses before I feel his presence leave me. With a startled cry, the other Zaveid falls back and I feel Eizen yank me up. Wincing at the touch, I see a glint of gold on brown. Glancing at it, my vision swims and I crumple in his grasp.

"Make yourself useful, Zaveid! Get it on her wrist!" Eizen barks. It takes a few moments before the other Zaveid actually moves to put the bracelet on my wrist. I feel warmth spreading through my body and I find myself able to stand on both feet without support. Staring at the other Zaveid, I glance to Eizen.

This was going to be hard to explain…

* * *

The fire was warm, crackling, and Cammile dumped more firewood on it. Kain sighed and set it on fire, letting the fire spread and grow as we sat around it. The two Zaveids had hit it off well after I explained the situation. From how we met and up to how we got here. Even the entire fight against Eizen, who wasn't too happy with either of the Zaveids.

"So wait, you're telling me that you've been wandering around trying to find ways to save _Eizen_? And it was Siegfried all along?"

"Yeah. I figured that out… due to reasons." Most likely because I was running off of details I'd heard from friends before I ended up in this place. A long shot, for sure, but..

"And ended up dating this other me?"

"We're not dating!"

The entire circle around the fire burst into laughter at that. Both Zaveid and I look a bit horrified, but the fact that I was mostly leaning on him and his arm was around me must've given that detail away. But it didn't really matter in the end. They knew now, so there wasn't a reason to deny it. It felt like we were at home with each other, with how everyone was talking. Eizen didn't tell the other Zaveid how we saved him, but he said that it was probably a miracle which got him to laugh. All I did was doze off as we planned our next move.

Before I know it, it's morning and we're all getting ready to leave. The other Zaveid has some work to do, so we part ways near Aifread's Hunting Grounds. I wish him luck before we part, and he does the same. No hard feelings there. Even if I'd asked him to keep a secret.. to keep this secret from the others, there wasn't too much I could do if he decided to tell Sorey and the others. But now that I feel better, there was nothing left to do but the trials.

The trials that would make or break my plan.

The Earth Trial was a sheer copy of the game one, with one twist. What we had to calm was a raging horned demon, not the kids that got turned into a hellion. Something that reminded Eizen of his long-deceased captain. It was like it'd been pulled from his memory. But we'd beaten it, and got the power of the Earth Empyrean. That was the accomplishment, though Eizen and I had yet to armatize once. I wondered if it had something to do with what happened in the past.

Certainly, though, I knew that it wasn't much to just linger on. Moving onwards, we headed to where the Wind trial would be. And it'd be just like the game, wouldn't it? Just getting through a puzzle and quelling a hellion before getting the power. Except, if we got there too soon, then someone would need to throw themselves off the temple. And… that'd be me, if it was the man from the game that fell the moment Sorey and the others arrived. I had to plan it right, get up there and then _fall to my doom_. Hopefully Sorey would catch me like he did the man in the game. If not, backup plan would be to armatize mid-fall and use that to get to the ground safely. Then that'd help… right? We could assist in the fight against this world's Zaveid, but then we'd have a lot of things to explain. I didn't exactly like that idea, but… if it helped, then so be it.

To the top of the Wind Trial was our goal. I could barely remember what went where, causing us to go back and forth until Camille figures out the solution. I feel a bit stupid when this happens, but. In the end, it helps us get to the top. Instead of the Dullahan, though, ours is more of a lesser dragon-type. Sorey's is the Dullahan, it seems, and now…

As our battle rages on, the man having been safely stopped from falling off the shrine and sent home, I realize that I'd have to drop myself off this shrine. Which, when the battle ended after what felt like hours, I look at the drop the man had been on before looking to the guardian seraph. Given the blessing of Wind not too long after the battle ends, I just give a short nod before walking to the edge.

It's a long drop.

I turn around and close my eyes, spreading my arms out wide before letting myself fall back. I hear Zaveid, Eizen, Kain and Cammile scream in my head as I do this, but I feel the wind rush as I fall. I don't dare open my eyes, though I'm scared enough that I'll hit the ground before Sorey can catch me.

I can only hope he gets here in time.

* * *

 **End notes:**

 **Before I learned that everyone and their mother was doing a 'Eizen is saved' kind of deal, I'd had the idea in my head and it was the basis of why I started writing this fic. Though now that I've completed that, it begs the question of how I'm going to proceed, if I plan on changing more of Zestiria than I already have.**

 **The answer is no to changing more of it. Besides what we have, I don't plan on changing anything else _but_ the way Dezel's death is handled and what happens next.**

 **As for armatizations, I do not intend to copy besides the wind one. For fire, earth and water I've thought of something else but I'll leave that for when it's needed.**

 **That's all I can think of. Sorry this took so long and is rushed to hell. Battle scenes are not my forte and I can't think of all the back and forth. Maybe I should take a leaf from a book somewhere.**


	13. Hellion's Assault

_**Sorry I keep forgetting to update! I've been going through a lot.**_

* * *

The moment I opened my eyes was enough to know I was on the ground. The sound of fighting filled my ears and I groggily sat up.

" _You're an idiot! You could've killed yourself by doing that!"_

"I had to. Things are… going as they're supposed to." Brushing off Eizen's concern, I stood up a bit shakily to face the fight. Sorey, Rose, Dezel and Lailah were going after Zaveid, which worried me. If I remembered correctly, he'd boosted his power with a bullet. And the end result was he got overpowered. Four against one was not a fight at all.

I grit my teeth, and felt my nails digging into my skin. Uncurling my fists, I took a breath and turned away. They knew it was me that had fallen. They could've told from how I was dressed, and my hair. Glancing back before I walked off, I noticed Rose staring at me. Immediately, I turned and ran away before they could catch me. Instead of staying, I left. But inside I hoped that everyone would be okay and this version of the world wouldn't be destroyed like the old one.

"I'm scared."

" _I know._ "

"I don't want to die..."

" _Neither of us do._ "

Coming to a stop near a field, I collapsed and heard myself start to cry. I didn't understand. Would we be safe? Would Sorey not do it again…? If he did, then… what would happen to all of us? I was scared. I was so scared of what would happen that I could barely control my sobs. What would happen? ...What would happen? What would happen?

 _ **Nothing happened.**_

It took a couple hours for me to actually get up and move again, coaxed onwards by my seraphim friends. I couldn't exactly move without worrying that I'd screwed everything up again, but they were supportive and kept my spirits up. I was lucky to have them supporting me like this, but I had to wonder if it was all just to be fleeting. Thankfully, we made it to Pendrago without much difficulty and took up a room there to plan out our strategy.

What strategy? The "Rose gets her closure" strategy. Postpone Symonne's reckoning upon Dezel and just try to get things settled and _then_ he could save her out of obligation. That wasn't fair to Rose whatsoever. In fact, it wasn't fair to her at all. There was little fairness in the fact that Dezel was using her as a tool for his own gain, something that wasn't looked well upon. If this was any other place, Dezel would've been arrested and tried for his crimes. But, this wasn't home so he could get away with it without even trying. That really upset me, but there wasn't anything we could do about it. The only change I was happy to make was that Eizen didn't die because Sorey only went to defeat the Lord of Calamity and broke his promise to Edna. Rose did need to know earlier, but only…

"There you are!"

I jumped, before turning around to… oh, well. Aevar looked a bit peeved. Giving a sigh, he closed the door behind him and walked over, sitting down before rubbing his temples. Oops. I'd left him behind by accident. Well… there wasn't much I could do about that except apologize, which he accepted after bonking my head with his fist. That was fine, though. We caught up a little, and then waited. We had to wait, for there was really nothing else we could do. Pendrago was sunny and returning back to normal, though they had to replant the fields that had drowned because of the rain. Instead of sitting around, the two of us started helping out around the city and made sure that things were going smoothly. The only time we had to worry was when Sorey and the others arrived, for that was when things were going to go down.

"I don't know, it seems a bit fishy."

"You can say that again."

Crouched near a tree, quietly watching what was going on, I knew that Dezel and Zaveid could tell we were there but deigned not to say in favour of this fight. Aevar watched with a bit of a frown on his face while I just watched without a care. The thing was, this entire fight was just so that Sorey could get Siegfried and Dezel could die without repenting for his actions. And that was to happen. I kept thinking of the fact that Rose deserved to know beforehand, before Symonne could ever tell her, and sighed to myself. She deserved better than the half-assed apology she'd gotten. Other than that, there was nothing else we could do. There was nothing else we could possibly do to prevent anything else. Dezel dying made room for Zaveid, and… Ugh, that stupid hat. After the battle, Zaveid flopped onto the ground to "nap", and Sorey headed into Pendrago with Rose, but not before looking at where Aevar and I were 'hiding'.

"So, what do we do?"

"We can't do anything. Though Rose deserves better, though Dezel would be better off telling Rose herself instead of hiding it, there's nothing else we can do." Standing up, I headed over to the fence and vaulted over it, passing by the sleeping Zaveid and heading into Pendrago. Tonight would be difficult, that was for sure.

* * *

Waking up in the middle of the night, I heard footsteps gently stepping outside the door and heading downstairs. Getting out of bed and pulling my boots on, I woke Aevar and he practically did the same… well, except for putting his glasses on as well. The two of us left the inn just in time to see them get attacked by multiple images of Lunarre. Looking back at Aevar, I gave a small nod before running and jumping over the stone railing, landing on my feet before charging at Lunarre and giving him a punch to the face as he went to attack Sorey. Kain appeared at my side after I did that, giving a sigh and pinching his nose.

"I thought we were supposed to lay low." He said. I frowned a little before kicking a Lunarre image away. These things seemed real, but they weren't. They weren't.

"I didn't say that." A Lunarre image vanished as it got shot through with a gil. Kain stretched a little and put the rest of the gil away, pulling out a fan instead. One of those opening fans that the rich people usually used in this world. "All I said was that we couldn't do anything else, not lay low."

"Mel!"

Right on cue, Sorey bashed a Lunarre clone with his sword. "When did you get here? Last we saw, you were outside of Pendrago!"

"I have a room at the inn!"

"You could've just said hi!" Rose scolded.

"I had a lot on my mind…?"

As soon as the Lunarre clones were gone, Symonne spoke and Lunarre ran off. Ugh. Dezel immediately gave chase, and we all had no choice but to follow. Symonne's domain enveloped Pendrago, and we followed the trail to the Shrinechurch, where Lunarre stood along with Dezel. A bright light enveloped the area for a moment before Symonne appeared. Illusions. Her gaze fell upon me and she started to giggle before bursting out laughing. Gritting my teeth, I clenched my fists and waited for her inevitable spiel of me working for them. Which was untrue, I'd decided myself in the end that it wasn't worth it.

"Cammile. Get him." That was all I said. Cammile appeared from nowhere, giving a nod before leaving the area. She knew what I was referring to. Hopefully we could get him here in time… "Kain, ready yourself."

"Wait! You're a shepherd too?!" Lailah said, with a tone of shock in her voice. "But how-"

"I'm technically not a shepherd. Just a vessel for friends." I pointed out before taking a deep breath.

"So, you've come to interrupt my performance." Symonne pointed her baton at me. "I won't let you do that. You were supposed to be helping us bring Sorey to the Lord of Calamity's side. I see now that we were _foolish_ to trust in you."

"Yeah, well… Betraying a friend is far beyond me. I may not have known Sorey for a long time, but I'd rather fight by his side."

Symonne grit her teeth. "Then you-!"

Just then, Dezel attacked her. "Shut up! Both of you! It ends _here!_ I'll get my revenge!"

"Have you told her? Or kept her in the dark?" Symonne asked. "By the look on your face, it seems like you never said… For this stage to be set, she _has_ to know~"

"Wait, what? Know what?" Rose sounded confused. "What are you-"

"Quiet! That's enough out of you!" Dezel growled. Symonne laughed.

"Didn't you know, girl?" Her focus was on Rose now, that same damned _smirk_ on her face as from the game. "He's been using you this _entire_ time… And everyone knew except you. How cruel."

"..What are you talking about?"

And that's where everything slowed down, even time itself. For a moment, I'd realized that this was going differently… but in the same direction. And then it happened. Symonne told Rose exactly what Dezel had been doing, and Dezel affirmed that he would do it again no matter what… just for his revenge. It was twisted, cruel… and had me wondering if Dezel actually cared about Rose in the first place. Hearing it from a game was one thing, but hearing it for real… Actually out of Dezel's mouth… It was scary.

Symonne turned into a hellion not too long after, and everyone drew their weapons. Aevar and I put ourselves in a similar stance, sharing the same fighting style. The hellion had strange attacks, and used a laser beam-looking attack at times. Kain threw flames at it, which turned silver upon contact… but did nothing. This hellion was a storyline hellion, so it couldn't be purified the normal way. The only way was…

" _Melanie, armatize! See if that'll take it down-"_

" _Are you crazy, Zaveid?! Armatization-"_

" _Now's not the time!"_

"Would you two shut up and let me figure this out?!" I shouted aloud before realizing that I did. It had paused the fight for a moment as everyone looked at me oddly. That's when I remembered. _Eizen's curse._ If I just got close enough, could I theoretically take the hellion out? But I couldn't find an opening to get close. There was too much going on.

"Mel!" Kain and Aevar tackled me to the ground as the laser beam attack flew over our heads.

"Ow- thanks." We stood back up and faced the hellion.

"Kain, you and me. We're going in close." I said. Kain nodded. The two of us sprinted forward. About halfway to the hellion, we had to avoid an attack by Symonne, who made multiple copies of herself. We faced the way we came instead of the hellion now, so I looked over my shoulder… with my eyes widening at what I saw. Rose and Dezel had armatized. Forcefully.

Turning my attention back to Symonne, I took in a breath and closed my eyes.

" _ **Sasei Rue.**_ " Kain and I said together. I felt the hard handles of the Chakrams in my hands and opened my eyes. The two of us, together, started fighting the Symonne clones. I noticed how, instead of the armatization form I usually took with Zaveid, I was wearing a modified version of Kain's outfit. How had I- no, this isn't the time to think about that. Flinging a Chakram at an image headed for Edna, it dispersed as soon as the weapon cleaved her in two.

And then I heard it. Two screams of pain. The battle forgotten, I looked over at the hellion just in time to see Rose and Dezel separate… and the hellion started going for Rose! But there was nothing I could do from this far away. Instead, Rose was grabbed and the hellion started pouring malevolence into the Squire to try and turn her. Dezel was pulled back, and Lailah brought up the barrier.

I knew what was to happen next.

Dezel takes Siegfried, shoots himself with it and becomes the bullet that severs the tie between the hellion and Rose. Releasing the armatization, I heard familiar footsteps but refused to look back. Dezel armatized with Sorey, and then Dezel was fired into the hellion.

"Melanie, what happened?" Cammile asked. All I could do was drop to my knees. I felt Kain, Aevar and Cammile start talking to me, but I didn't realize it. It took a while for me to actually come to. At that point, Sorey had knelt down in front of me.

"Melanie?" I looked at him.

". . . . I. . . I wasn't able to bring myself to stop it. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I wanted- I wanted..." I could feel the tears start falling. Rose had needed to hear it earlier than this. Dezel had done everything for her, but he couldn't tell her about what happened because he wanted her to believe she'd come this far on her own. And that was stupid.

"Just… just leave me here for now. I… I need to think on my next course of action."

"Alright…"

* * *

Returning to the Inn was difficult. Every step I took, the weight of what happened burdened me. I knew I could've changed it, but I never did. Because I'd sworn to myself that the only thing I'd change was Eizen's fate. There wasn't much else I could do in terms of storyline change. I wanted to, I knew I wanted to… but I couldn't. Not after what I did.

"Are you alright?" Lailah's voice brought me out of my stupor. I blinked a couple of times, not even realizing that she was there until now. I'd been too deep in my thoughts to even realize that anyone had come in to the inn room. I didn't remember getting here, but I suppose Aevar had helped guide me here. "I know we've been at odds, Melanie, but I-"

"Lailah, I wanted to stop it." I blurted out, stopping her in her tracks. "I wanted to stop it. I knew, I _knew_ Dezel would die and yet I did nothing but follow the path that he was supposed to take. To create room for Zaveid to have a place. To make sure everything went the way it was supposed to. I'm sorry, Lailah, I'm so sorry. I wanted to-"

"You knew?" Lailah's voice was soft, and I felt her sit down next to me. "...How long have you known?"

"Since I first met him." A bit of a lie, but it would work nonetheless. No one wanted to hear that they were just fictional characters, that they weren't even real in the world I came from. "I've known since then. I didn't… want to ruin anything. I'm sorry."

"Does this also have to do with why you can armatize as well? That's not something just anyone can do…"

"No, that's unrelated. I've got a naturally high resonance, I suppose. I don't know, I've always been able to see the seraphim for as long as I can remember." Which wasn't long in itself. "Hey, Lailah?"

"Yes?"

"...Tomorrow, can we go to Rayfalke? …..Sorey has a promise he needs to keep to Edna."

"That was your promise-"

"Listen, Lailah, Sorey would've made it anyway. He probably already did. It… was originally his promise, anyway. To save Eizen."

I heard a sharp intake of breath but ignored it. "He never looked for a way, instead following a path pre-determined for him. I'd rather he go try first before writing it off."

"But dragons-"

"Can't be purified, I know. Or they can, just no one's ever found a way or thought of one."

"I can see, but the decision is ultimately up to Sorey."

"Alright. Thank you, Lailah."

She left, but not before glancing back at me before leaving the room. I knew she didn't believe me, but who would after that nonsense? I should've kept my big mouth shut. There was no way. Kicking off my boots, I crawled into bed and closed my eyes.

Before I knew it, it was morning and time to get up. Sitting up and stretching, I pulled my boots on while listening to Kain talk to Eizen about Kiki. Fixing the bed, I woke Aevar and waited for him to get ready before the two of us headed out into Pendrago, just in time to see Sorey leave the city. Damn, I'd overslept. Grabbing Aevar's wrist, I tugged him along and the two of us ran towards the city gates before they closed, slipping out just in time. It only took us a couple minutes to catch up to Sorey.

"Oh, look. It's the crazy one." Edna said. Ow.

"Uh…" I paused. "...Did… something happen?"

"You tell us. Lailah told us about what you said last night." Mikleo said. My attention turned to him. The only one who probably believed what I said was Zaveid. After all, he'd… listened to me. So I knew he wouldn't…

"So none of you believe what I say, is that it?"

"You're not giving us reasons to." Edna pointed her umbrella at me. "Why do you want us to kill my brother so badly? That's the only way for him to-"

"No it's not!" I interrupted. "No one ever actually looks! They say they do, but they never do! Well, I did! And if none of you believe me, then whatever. I knew what was going to happen, I know what's about to happen but. You know what?"

"Tell us, if you're so inclined to be a child." Mikleo glared daggers at me.

"Yeah, I admit, I'm being a damned child! But you know what?! I've been trying. I threw myself off the Wind Trial temple because I saved the man before, I searched for a way to save Eizen like what was promised and I gave you guys time to get away from Rose when she was attacking you while under Dezel's control. But none of that lets you give me the benefit of the doubt?"

"I'm not doubting you." Sorey said. "I never have. I just want to know how you know all of this. How you knew what would happen to Dezel."

"Sorey, you're too nice." Edna stabbed me with the parasol. Ow. "She doesn't deserve it."

"Way to be antagonistic towards me when I've done nothing to any of you to deserve this treatment." I got stabbed again, but rubbed my side. They were really acting out of character. Why were they- except Sorey? And where was Rose?

"Wait, Melanie… did.. the world just lose colour?" Sorey asked. Edna harrumphed and put her parasol on her shoulder, walking away. Mikleo followed. Where was Lailah, Rose and Zaveid? Looking around, that was when I noticed.

"She's working for the Lord of Calamity, Sorey. You heard Symonne." Bingo. Edna never said Symonne's name, _ever._ "She doesn't deserve our kindness."

"Cammile!" I quickly armatized with Camille. And stared at the weapon. Would this armatization make up its mind? Last time, a straw. This time… a dagger? What the hell? Well, either way, I moved in and stabbed the illusion of Edna in the back, causing great distress to Eizen for half a second before the illusion dissipated. I threw it at the Mikleo illusion and it embedded itself into the ground as soon as the Mikleo illusion was gone. The world returned to normal, and everything around us did as well. Releasing the armatization, Camille picked up a flower and put it in her hair.

Everyone came back into view. Rose, Edna, Mikleo, Lailah and Zaveid. Aevar, too.

"What happened?!" Rose asked. "We were trying to talk to you two but neither of you responded!"

"We were… How did Symonne make an illusion so powerful it _separated_ us?" I asked.

"I don't think that was the creepy girl." Edna twirled her parasol. "That wasn't her domain we felt."

"Oh great. _Two_ Symonnes. Even better!" I groaned.

And that was when I heard the most frustrated noise from Eizen before he appeared and- well, I found myself on the floor about fifteen seconds later. It was complete silence for a bit. After all, I just got beaned in the head by a really strong earth seraph, so it was bound to cause a bit of confusion.

"Ow, ow, ow… Okay, I know what you're thinking but it was an illusion!" I got up and dusted the front of my pants off before turning to Eizen. "It wasn't real, alright?"

Eizen glared at me before looking behind him at Zaveid. The hat-wearing Zaveid… Ugh, why was that hat even on his head? No. Just. No. Before Eizen could say anything, I walked over to said hat-wearing Zaveid…

And knocked the hat off his head.

"I swear, that _doesn't_ look good on you." Catching it, I then handed it to Rose. "Keep it as a keepsake or something, but for heaven's sake, _wearing it?_ What's- no I'm not finishing that question."

"Somethin' wrong with that?" Zaveid asked, confused. "I kinda liked it-"

"It's dumb looking."

"I… have to agree." Lailah said. Situation diffused. I gestured at Eizen and he gave a long, suffering sigh before returning to reside within me. Zaveid ended up with the hat again.. and wearing it. Oh boy. "Shall we head to Rayfalke?"

"….." Edna remained silent for a moment. "You're going to kill him, aren't you?"

"Nope!" I turned to Edna and walked over to her. "Remember, we're going to _save_ him. Not kill him like apparently everyone else wants to." I heard a disgruntled noise from Eizen for being too close to Edna. Ignoring it, I put a hand on her head and ruffled her hair. "No one's ever done it. Well, nothing's impossible. Everyone says it is because they never _tried_ , only gave up. I haven't given up. I won't let you do the same."

"Idiot." Edna fixed her ruffled hair. "You're an idiot."

"I know I am." I turned and started walking away. There was silence for a moment, and then I heard them follow me. We'd make the trip all the way back to the Rayfalke Spiritcrest and above, to where they thought Eizen was. I'd have to figure out a way to say that I'd done it the moment we got there. But how? How could I say it without coming off as all high and mighty? We had no way of ever doing it again because there weren't enough bullets to pull it off again.

 _Fifteen._

That's all we had left. Fifteen. Fifteen of them, and no way to save any other dragon. Which meant Tiamat was the unfortunate one who had to die. Thinking on it made me feel sick. But all of us continued forward. Scaling the mountain when we got to it. It was still a straightforward path.. and Sorey had to use Edna's Giant's Strength to bust down some boulders, which caused her to grit her teeth and bear the pain that came with walking while sore. The eight of us made it to the mountain peak, and I lingered back as the rest of them moved forward.

"It's now or never." I murmured to myself. I noticed Zaveid looking my way, and sighed before waving a hand.

" _I guess I don't have any other choice._ " Eizen appeared beside me in a small flash of light. I kinda did the 'tada' thing that people usually did with an uneasy smile on my face. But he knew, and kind of tried to hold back laughter… before failing miserably.

"Shoulda just told us earlier instead of making us climb all the way up here!"

"I… uh, you know. I don't really… do well with improv..." Okay, that was a lie. I improv'd so hard with my campaigns and- well, that was neither here or there. Either way, outside of any campaigns, I was terrible at improv. That's when the rest of them finally turned to look. I stood straight, rubbing the back of my head sheepishly.

"So, uh, nothing's impossible. But we can't do it again. It took.. a lot out of us." Including me, who was now dependant on the bracelet for some reason. Perhaps it was punishment for fixing something that was never supposed to be, but that didn't matter now. "Like, we're low on the proper supplies kind of 'took a lot out of us'."

"…." Edna stared at Eizen, who looked away. "...Hello, Eizen."

"Edna. You look well." Eizen didn't dare approach her. Groaning, I walked over to Edna and put a hand on her head. She didn't try to bat it away.

"Your brother's just being a jerk. Won't even come and hug his sister who hadn't seen him in ages." I looked back to Eizen. "Curse or no, that's no excuse not to at least try to catch up with Edna, y'know."

Taking my hand off her head, I turned to face Eizen properly. "What would've happened was that these idiots would've tried killing you and succeeded. And yeah, it would've been for character development but there's no need. These two have grown a lot since first starting out. Maybe in another world, that happened, but not here."

 _I didn't want to hear Edna cry again. It hurt too much. It always hurts._

"...I just didn't want to hear her cry again. It's painful."

"What are you talking about? I never cried." Edna said, though her voice was thick with emotion. "I haven't even cried in front of this idiot here."

"…...I saw you cry once. And I told myself 'never again'. Having to help kill one's own family is painful enough." I sighed and stepped aside. "Eizen, be a big brother for once. Ignore your curse, and just hug her."

"It's not as-"

"It's fine. I'm alright. I don't need it." Edna said. "Don't force him, Melanie."

"If that's what you want." With nary a thought, Eizen vanished and returned to reside within me. Just as he did, though, a thundering crash echoed through the mountains. A bizarre-looking hellion made its way to us, looking ghastly and slightly childish. I heard Kain choke, and then heard the voice.

" _I'm so lonely… Oh so lonely… Kain, why won't you play with me anymore?_ "

"What is that?!" Sorey and the others got into a battle stance, as did Aevar and I. Kain appeared in front of us, however, causing us all to pause. He had his back turned to us. And he was… shaking visibly. Was this Kiki? Who he'd been trying to find, trying to help? How did she become a hellion? Wasn't… wasn't she just a child?

"Kiki, I'm so sorry… This is all my fault..." He fell to his knees. And then… before I knew it, Zaveid was yanking him back up.

"Don't you _dare_ give up now! Melanie never gave up, so you shouldn't either!" He told Kain. The seraph looked at him, and the look on his face made him seem so… broken.

"Calm down and chill out, you two! There's more important things to do! Like… like helping Kiki, alright? That's what we'll do." Even if it meant killing her in the end… I couldn't bear the thought, but… if she was this far gone, then there was no other choice. I quietly called Zaveid to me, and we armatized without a hitch. I could feel the raw emotion he was feeling over this and my eyes welled up with tears. Kain pulled out his fan, though reluctantly, and readied himself to fight.

"I'm sorry." Was all I said before I charged in first.


	14. Note!

**Hey everyone!**

I haven't updated in three months. Why's that? Besides some personal issues cropping up, I've been rethinking how the fic would go. I will be rewriting it, and hoping I can pace it better. In the meantime I'll probably end up writing another fic as I plan out the rewrite.

 _Thank you for following this fic!_

I hope to see you all again when the rewrite is posted!


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